Brought Up By You
by kash30032000
Summary: What if Harry was raised by Sirius after James and Lily died? What kind a life would he live? A successful? Or will it all go down the drain? Chapter 22 is up!
1. The Life Before

Part 1

Chapter 1

The Life Before

Most stories start 'once upon a time.' Some start 'long ago.' But this story starts with a boy, who was given birth to in St. Healer's hospital, July 31, 1988.

Young Lily Potter, who had just given birth to her first son, was lying in bed exhausted. Her husband had went to go send messages to their friends to announce the birth of their pride and glory.

St. Healer's hospital was a private hospital located five miles from the village, Godric Hollow. Only a few people knew that it existed, for it was only for certain people.

The hospital was owned by a old friend of the Potter's, a woman named Aspirina Healer.

Lily lay in her small bed waiting for the doctor to return with her baby boy. Or her husband. Which ever came first.

While she was waiting, she was thinking of a list of names for boys.

_Howard?_

_Junior?_

_Steve?_

She just didn't want any old name. She wanted a name that best suited him. A name that when people say, it will bring a smile to the face and kindness in their heart.

Lily and her husband, James, had both agreed that their son would have James first name as a middle name. And of course his last name was Potter.

_Something James Potter? Harold James Potter? No._

"Here he is." said a soft voice, causing Lily to jump.

Lily looked towards the door and saw a woman with light brown hair and chestnut eyes. She had a soft sweet voice and she sounded as if she was the daughter of an angel. The doctor Asprina Healer. She was holding a small boy in her arms.

"I'm sorry." she said with a voice sounding as it belonged to an angel. "Did I startle you?"

"Oh, no. I was thinking about a name for my son."

"Well, here he is." she said stepping closer to the bed. "He's such a sweet boy."

The boy was fast asleep in the doctor's arms. He looked exactly like his father. He had untidy black hair, but when the doctor handed over the baby, he opened his eyes and he had bright green eyes. Lily's eyes.

Lily held the baby closed to her. He was her son. Her first son. And no one, no one was going to take him away from her.

Lily silently began to cry at the touch of her son's soft skin. She suddenly felt the doctor's hand on her shoulder.

"Have you decided on a name yet?"

Just as Lily was about to answer, the ward's door burst open and there stood a man with hazel eyes, and untidy black hair. Lily's husband.

"I contacted everyone who was close to us. Dumbledore, Sirius, Moony, Hagrid, McGonagall, and Peter." he said as he walked over to the bed. "Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine." Lily answered. "I was just thinking of a first name."

"How about Stewart?"

"James, will you get serious?"

"Alright. How about Harry? Harry James Potter."

"I like it." said Aspirina.

"Yes." Lily said quietly, looking down fondly at her baby. "It's perfect. Harry James Potter."

"A perfect name for a perfect boy."

Six hours later, James and Lily returned to their small house in the village of Godric Hollow. They had a small house, with two floors. On the first floor was a large living room which held a television, two brown chairs, two tables, a computer, and a large brown couch. There were nine windows in this room. There was also a medium size kitchen, which held a stove, refridgerator, sink, a table, three counters, three cabniets, and a pantry. On the second floor was a small bathroom with a sink, mirrior, and tub. The second floor also held two closets, and two bed rooms.

Lily, who was carrying Harry, went to go take a seat in one of the brown chairs. She had decided to sit down for five minuets, then would go to cook dinner for her friends who would be arriving to see Harry.

James entered the room and spotted his wife sitting down. She still looked exhausted and the last thing he wanted was for her to wear herself out.

"Lil, why don't you go upstairs and sleep?" he said. "I'll cook the dinner."

"That's alright." she answered. "I can do it."

"It's all under control."

"I'm sure our friends wouldn't want peanut butter and jelly for dinner. With Koolaid."

"Red Koolaid, to be exact." James joked, but when he saw how exhausted she looked he said,

"I'll cook something fancy, like a ham. Just go put Harry to bed."

Lily looked at her husband. James might not be the greatest cook in the world, but to tell the truth she was exhasted and needed a good night rest.

"Alright, James." she said finally. "Try not to set the house on fire."

The minuet Lily made her way up the stairs and he heard a door close he walked over to the phone and dialed a few chosen numbers.

Lily was having a strange dream. She was watching her son grow up, only she wasn't there with him. Neither was James. He was with a man with long black hair and smooth skin. He was very young and good looking. Harry had grew up looking more like her husband.

Harry and this man had been playing in a nearby park, when a very dark cloud was cast above them. A man had dropped from the cloud. He was a tall thin man with an unusual face. He had red cat slit eyes, snake like nostroils, and a very hungry look on his face.

Lily watched as this man came charging at her son with a wand. She watched with horror as the older man killed the younger man. He then turned his attention on Harry and began to torture him.

Lily screamed and yelled. She did her best to protect her son, but some magical force was keeping her away.

When the man spoke he had a high pitch cold voice. "It's time for you to die Harry Potter."

As the man raised the wand in his hand, Lily was awaken by the sound of a voice.

"So you decided to 'cook' McDonald's for dinner." said a man with long black hair, when James had led them to the kitchen.

Lily had just came downstairs, when James was ushering his guest into the kitchen. The man who had spoken turned to face Lily.

"Hello, Lily." he said. "How're you?"

"I'm fine. Hello, everyone."

After everyone greeted Lily and James, they all sat down to a wonderful supper. They all passed around the food and drinks.

"This is all very nice." said the oldest out of the bunch.

"Thank you, Dumbledore." said James. "I always say when there's company have someone else cook for you."

"Hear, hear." said the man with long black hair. "Why kill you're friends, when you can have someone else do it for you."

"Oh, be quiet, Sirius."

They all enjoyed the meal. Dumbledore was talking to a man with light brown hair about how people should see other people.

"So what if you are a werewolf, Remus." he was saying. "It's the inside that counts. You're still a nice intelligent young man. We know you as Remus Lupin, not a werewolf."

"Thanks." Lupin said gloomily. "I just wish that everyone saw me as Remus Lupin."

Lily was talking to a man the size of a giant, a stern looking woman, and a man that looked kind of like a rat.

"Parenting should be a snap." Hagrid said, as he took a bit out of his cheeseburger. "Kids are so easy."

"Some kids are." said McGonagall. "It's the teenage ones you want to look out for."

"So Lily." spoke up Peter Pettigrew. "Would you say Harry is a sweet harmless child?"

"Oh, yeah." she answered. "Harry wouldn't hurt a fly."

James and Sirius were talking about old classmates.

"Remember how much trouble we used to get Bertha Jorkins in?" Sirius was saying.

"Yeah. She was in detention more than us."

After dinner, they went to the Living room to discuss a few important topics.

"Okay. Our first order of business is making future plans for Harry." said Dumbledore.

Lily had already discuss these plans for Harry, before he was born. Sirius was going to be Harry's godfather. If anything happened Lily and James, Sirius was going to take care of Harry. Lupin was the uncle, if something happen to Sirius, Lupin would take care of Harry. Lily didn't like the fact that Peter was looking after her son, so they left him out of it.

After James and Lily discuss what was going to happen to Harry they went to the second order of business.

"There is a spy within the order." said Dumbledore. "It can be any of us. All I can give, is a word of caution. And I hope the culprit would be caught before anyone gets hurt."

"What about my family." said Lily. "You-know-who is bound to come after us."

"I have decided to issue a secret keeper." he answered. "You would have to choose someone loyal, strong, and trustworthy."

". . . how about Severus? He won't say anything." suggested Lily.

"Snape?" began James. "I'm not trusting him with my life. How about Sirius?"

Sirius, who's mind was drifting, jumped at the idea. He loved James like a brother. He felt as if the Potters were his families. He was even prepared to die for them.

"Sirius will you be our secret keeper?"

"I. . . of course I'll do it."

"That's that." said Dumbledore getting up to rise. "Sirius, I'll meet you back here two day's before Halloween."

As the months went by, Sirius kept a close watch on the Potters. He was going to make sure that nothing would happen to them. If something happen to them, he didn't know what he'd do. He might even kill himself.

He made frequent visits to their house. With each visit he grew attach to Harry. He spoiled Harry so much, that each time he visit, he brought Harry a new toy, or some clothes.

Harry had so many clothes and toys, Lily had to make room in their bedroom for some of his things.

This only stopped when James threaten to take Harry away.

Being the Potters' secret keeper kept coming to Sirius mind and he knew that if he was, he would be their down fall.

He decided to talk to James about this.

"Hello, Padfoot." James greeted, as Sirius walked into the kitchen.

Sirius visited so often that Lily gave him a key to the house.

"James we need to talk."

"Look, mate. You can bring Harry toys. I was only kidding about taking him away."

"No, not that." he took a deep breath. "I can't be your secret keeper."

"W-what? Why not?"

"Here me out. Everyone knows who your best friend is. Voldemort is bound to come after me. What if we made me a decoy. Use someone else."

"You mean I should use Moony?"

Sirius face suddenly grew dark. "No. I think Remus is the spy."

"Why would you say that."

"He's a werewolf."

"So?"

"So? He's probably working for Voldemort."

James frowned at this idea. His friend Remus Lupin, a spy? It didn't make any sense at all.

"Then who am I gonna use? And I'm not using Snape?"

"Use Peter. Voldemort would never see it coming."

After both Lily and Dumbledore agreed, Peter was contacted. He whole heartily agreed. Peter became the Potters' secret keeper. And little did they know, that a dark storm cloud was heading their way.


	2. The Attack

Chapter 2

The Attack

_"It's finally happen Dark Lord." _began a man in black robes and mask. _"The Potters' have made me their secret keeper."_

_"Excellent, Wormtail." _said a high pitch cold voice. _"And Dumbledore?"_

_"Has no clue that I am the spy."_

_"Excellent. Tonight we go to Godric Hollow. I will not be destroyed by Harry Potter."_

It was early morning when James and Lily woke up to their crying son. James jumped right out of bed while Lily began to rummage around the crowded room for her slippers.

When James came into Harry's room he could see his son's terrified eyes. He came to the conclusion that Harry had a bad dream. He thought it was no big deal because everyone had the occasional nightmare. What he didn't know that the nightmare the boy just had was actually happening miles away. Harry could sense the storm cloud coming their way.

James pushed his way through a bunch of games and stuff animals to his son.

"What's wrong, Har." he asked, picking up his son.

Harry stared at his father with tearful green eyes. He didn't really understand what his fathe just said, but he knew that his father was concerned for him.

It's not that Harry didn't know how to talk. He talked a whole lot. Even if half his words were baby talk. He knew a few words to. Only just a few. But what he really understood was the feelings of the speaker. What was in the heart.

"I had bad dweam." answered a little voice.

"Can you tell me what the dream was all about?" when Harry gave a quizzical look. James gave the returned the look, making Harry understand.

"Two pepo. . . both wearing bwack. . . talking about. . . about. . . I can't remember."

James hugged his son. "It's alright."

James took Harry downstairs for breakfast. The kitchen smelled of bacon and eggs. James' favorite breakfast food.

Lily was at the stove preparing the eggs. She turned in time to see her husband placing Harry in his baby seat. James walked over to the stove and kissed his wife on the cheek. Then looked into her face. She looked as if something was troubling her.

"What's wrong?" James asked, wondering if it was something he did.

"I was wondering if we made the right decision."

"Of course we did." he answered. "Giving Harry his own room let's us have privacy and he won't grow attached. It was only a common nightmare."

"Not that. I was wondering if it was right to trust Peter to be our secet keeper?"

"Oh. Of course it's alright. Why would you worry?"

Lily turned off the eggs, placed them in a bowl, and set it in the middle of the table. Harry began to reach for the eggs. Even though he didn't have teeth, he liked to eat anything that was placed on the table. Edible or not.

"Don't you think we would have been safer with Remus?"

"No."

"Why not?"

James took a deep breath. "Lily, the day Sirius told me he couldn't be our secret keeper, he told me something."

Harry had begun to successfully move the eggs toward him. Lily took a quick glance at Harry, and pulled the eggs back towards the middle of the table.

"What did he tell you?"

"He told me. . .that. . . he thinks that Remus is the spy?"

Lily was shock at this information. How could Lupin be a spy with so much kindness in his heart? He was always against the dark side, and he loved the Potters.

"Are you sure?"

"That's what he says, but yesterday Remus told me that Sirius was the spy."

"When did he tell you this?" said Lily, taking another shock of information.

Just as James was about to answer, they heard a smash. They turned around and saw a smashed bowl on the floor and eggs all over a laughing Harry. Seeing their son laugh made them laugh too.

After Harry was cleaned up and they all had breakfast, a heavy thunderstorm came along. It stormed all day and well into the night. It rained so hard that Godric Hollow looked as if it was about to flood. Looking outside of the window, you so no sign of man nor beast.

Both James and Lily knew something was going to happen that night. No one from the order hadn't bother to check up on them, and when they called Peter's house, he wasn't even home.

The rain continued to pound on the window outside of Lily and James' window. James was downstairs washing up the dinner dishes, while Lily sat in her room writing.

Lightening flashed menacely across the sky, and a threatening boom of thunder was heard. Harry began to cry at the noise. Lily, folding her letter up, walked to Harry's bedroom. Harry was so afraid that he didn't even notice that his mother had walked into the room.

"Shh. It's alright. Mommy's here." she said.

At the sound of his mother's sweet voice, Harry stopped crying and raised his arms as if wanted to be picked up. Lily picked up her baby, and sat in a rocking chair, by Harry's crib. She held her baby close and began to hum softly.

"Mommy. . .wrong?"

"It's alright, sweetheart. Everythings going to be fine."

Lily was so busy trying to confront Harry, that she didn't notice that Harry and just pulled the letter she had written out of her grasp. He tried reading it, but as he was only one, he couldn't make out any of the words.

James came into the bedroom and looked at the scene before him. It was a scene that would tugged at people's little heart and bring tears to their eyes. James quietly walked over to the rocking chair and knelt down besides them. He had no intention to disturb the peace.

Harry eyes roamed over to James, who simply smiled. Harry reached out for his father. He wanted him to move closer.

As James came closer, Harry noticed something gold hanging around his father's neck. Harry reached for it and gave a tug and a whine. James knew that that whine meant that Harry saw something that he wanted.

James took the gold off. It was a circular locket made of the purest gold and had the purest dents. This locket had once belong to James' great-great-great-great granfather. This locket was given to James by his father before he died. And now James was giving it to Harry.

James carefully placed the locket around Harry's neck. Harry held it in his hands, turned it over, and then placed it in his mouth. James slowly pulled it out and placed it back in Harry's hands. Harry once again stared at it, then looked up at his father. He understood what his dad was trying to say. He was saying that the locket was for him.

James and Lily stayed with Harry until Lily said she was going to put Harry to bed. She suggested that James also went to bed. James kissed his son and wife good night before leaving the room.

Lily took her exhausted baby, and layed him back in his crib. He looked over at her with sleepy green eyes. She began to sing as she tucked him in for the night.

_My Baby_

_My Baby_

_Sleep well today_

_Mommy's going far away_

_I love you with all my heart_

_No matter how far I go. . . we'll never be apart._

_My Baby _

_My Baby_

_Sleep well today_

_Mommy's going far away_

_I know it's love that you crave_

_But don't forget you are brave _

_My Baby _

_My Baby_

_My sweet sweet baby._

"Good night, Harry." she said softly. "I love you."

Lily watched her son sleep peacefully before returning to her bedroom, and her doom.

It was twelve o' clock when Sirius got back to his apartment. His apartment was a big one. He had a huge living room, a huge kitchen, more closet space than you can imagine, four big bedrooms, and two bathrooms.

He lived alone in this huge apartment. He was never lonely. The apartment building had three floors and of each floor there was two apartments. Sirius lived on the third floon in apartment three.

Sirius had been out all day trick or treating. He had been out by himself because he knew it was too dangerous for the Potters to come outside, and Peter wasn't safe in the streets. He didn't exactly trust Lupin anymore and he lost all contact with him.

Sirius felt bad about Harry not having to go trick or treating on his first Halloween. Sirius made a mental note to go visit Harry and give him some candy.

After Sirius rearranged his candy, and of course ate some of it, he phoned Peter's house, but didn't get an answer. He figured that Peter must be sleeping, so he headed out the door, deciding to go wake up his friend.

"Are you sure this is the house, Wormtail?" asked the man from Lily's dream. He had a high pitch cold voice.

"P-Positive, my lord." Peter stammered.

They had just arrived at Godric Hollow. Standing before them was a house, made of dark brown bricks. It was wet, due to the ran, but to the man, it look welcoming.

"My lord Voldemort." piped up Peter. "Are you sure you want to commit this crime? He's just a child after all."

Voldemort turned to face Peter, who coward before him.

"It's sounds as if you're protecting the boy."

"No, no, my lord. It's just that. . . he's so young."

"Yes he is." Voldemort replied. "And he will never be given the chance to grow up and learn the ways of our world."

"But-"

"He is a threat to me." he hissed. "And no one shall stop me. I am superior. I am powerful. I **am** Lord Voldemort."

Peter stood there terrified. He had no chose, but to turn in one of his best friends. If he didn't, Voldemort would kill him. And even if Sirius found out, Voldemort will protect him.

With his decision made, Peter moved closer to the door.

Sirius had been banging and hammering on Peter's door for a half hour. Something began to not feel right. Sirius climbed on his motorcycle, and began to speed down towards Godric Hollow.

Lily was awaken by the sound of a crash coming from the living room. Lily bolted straight up. Her heart was pounding inside of her chest, as she began to shake her husband.

"What?" said James sleepily.

"I think someone's broken in. Downstairs."

"It's probably just Sirius shopping in our refridgerator again."

"No, James. Go and check. Please?"

James mumbled to his self as he put on his slippers and made his way out of the door. Lily, not wanting to stay by herself followed closely behind her husband. When they got to the living room, no one was there. The kitchen was also empty.

They suddenly heard a noise upstairs, right above their head.

"They're in Harry's room." Lily whispered.

Voldemort walked over to the crib that Harry was sleeping in. He was not going to waste time. He had to do the job quickly and quietly.

Just as he raised his wand, James kicked down the door.

"Get away from my son you evil psycho."

Voldemort rushed at James, but James was ready for him. They began to duel fiercely, when Lily came in and screamed at the sight.

"Lily, take Harry and run. I'll hold him off."

Lily didn't need telling twice. She grabbed Harry, who was wide awake and made a wild dash out of the door and down the stairs.

As she headed for the front door, Peter came through at. She was very relieved to see him.

"Peter. Thank goodness. You-know-who is here. You have to help us."

She made a movement to the front door, but Peter blocked her path. Lily gave a confused look. She then finally realized what was happening.

"Remus isn't the traitor." she gasped. "It's you."

Peter suddenly slapped her so hard she fell to the ground. In a heartbeat, he had his wand pointing at her.

"Don't move and you will live." he said.

A scream could be heard from upstairs and the sound of a body falling. Lily's heart began to pound so hard that it threaten to burst out of her chest. She knew her husband alone couldn't take out Voldemort.

She wasn't going to be a widow. She was going to protect her baby, or die trying.

Voldemort came down the stairs and stared at the scene.

"Excellent work, Wormtail." he then turned towards Lily. "Give me the baby and you will live."

"No."

"Don't be silly." he hissed. "There's no need for you to die. There was no need for your husband to die either. Hand over the child."

"No."

"GIVE HIM TO ME!"

"I'll never hand over Harry! Not over my dead body!"

"Have it your way."

There was a flash of green light, a pierce scream, and Lily was motionless.

Voldemort pulled Harry from his dead mother's grasp, and placed him on the couch. He aimed his wand at his head.

"See you in hell. Or not. Avada Ke-"

Harry had grabbed Voldemort's wand, and placed the tip in his mouth. Voldemort roughly took the wand out of his mouth.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The spell hit Harry staight in the head bounced off and hit Voldemort. The curse left a bloody mark on Harry's forehead. When Voldemort got up, he noticed Harry was still alive, which scared him.

"He has back up." said Peter. "We'll get him later. Let's get out of here."

Sirius was so worried about the Potters' that he leapt off his motorcycle while he was still at full speed. He rolled across the ground and got back on his feet. His head was a bloody mess.

He ran into the front door and he saw his best friends wife on the ground. Dead. He was in such a shock that he didn't even notice Harry sitting on the couch as if nothing happened.

Sirius went to do a quick check upstairs, but all he found was his best friend dead. The Potters' were dead and it was entirely his fault.

Sirius made his way downstairs, and what he saw made his heart leap with joy. He saw a bloody Harry sitting on the couch smiling at him.

Sirius walked over to the smiling child and knelt beside him. He wiped some of the blood off his forehead and pulled the child into a loving embrace.

Harry hugged him back.

"I promise you, Harry." he said as he began to sob. "I promise you I'll get revenge. I'll kill that bastard if it's the last thing I do."


	3. A New Home

Chapter 3

A New Home

Sirius and Harry had fallen asleep on the couch. It was early in the morning, when Sirius had woke up. The sun was barely up when SIrius had got up. It was still dark outside.

Sirius had relived last nights events and remember that he had to get Harry as far away from this house as possible. First he had to get Harry to a doctor.

Sirius picked up Harry, careful not to disturb him, and carried him into the kitchen, where he found a towel to tie around the boy's forehead.

Sirius headed out of the back door and down through the dark alley. Away from the destroyed building. Sirius would some day tell Harry about his parents, but not today. He was far better growing up away from the pain and terror.

Sirius walked a few miles to St. Healer's hospital. He didn't care about the pounding in his head due to his motorcycle incident. He didn't care that he was on the verge of passing out. He was going to help his godson, and no one was going to stop him.

The sun had begun to rise, and the sky turned a bright pink when Sirius had reached a small building made of wood.

Sirius began to pound on the door until Asprina opened the door. It was obvious that she had just woken up. Her hair was uncombed and she was wearing a pink robe. Her eyes opened in surprise when she saw a bloody Harry and Sirius.

"What happened!"

"Not now." Sirius muttered. "Harry needs help."

"You both need help. Come inside."

Aspirina lead the way into the small hospital and to one of the wards. She went to get dress, while Sirius laid Harry on the bed.

While Aspirina treated Harry, Sirius told her what happened. He told her how the Potters' were marked for death. How they made Peter Pettigrew the secret keeper instead of him. The blank looks on James and Lily faces when he saw them. And Harry. How Harry was just sitting in that sad dark house, not knowing that his parents were dead.

"That's about the best I can do." she said, when she finished treating Harry.

"He looks better."

"Yeah. Slept through the whole examination, he did."

Harry did look better. He no longer looked like a bloody mess. He looked exactly like James, except to a new addition to his forehead. Sirius noticed a lightening bolt cut on his forehead. He knew that that was where Voldemort's spell had hit.

"Can't you do anything about that cut?"

"That's no ordinary cut on his forehead." she answered. "That scar will be there forever. That's what happens when a evil curse hit you."

Sirius understood immediately that that scar was important. He didn't really care that Harry was now sporting a hideous scar on his forehead. He was going to love him no matter what. He was going to make James and Lily proud.

Later that day Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic stopped by to grant Sirius complete custody of Harry. Harry was still asleep by the time they arrived. They sat in the kitchen, while Aspirina went on with her daily activities.

"Mr. Black, how have you been?" the minister asked.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. He knew that they were going to question him about the kind of life style he lived.

To tell the truth, Sirius really didn't lead a successful life. He had dropped out of school when he was sixteen and he mixed in with the wrong group. He wasn't a drunk, but he drunk more than his fair share of alcohol. He did drugs, and when he was not at work, doing things for the Order, or hanging with his three best friends, he was on the streets doing drugs.

"As you know my name is Cornelius Fudge. I am the Minister of magic. I am here today to view your current life status to see if you are a responsible adult. If you pass you may take custody of Harry James Potter. If you fail he will be placed in a orphanage. Do you agree?"

Sirius nodded his head, but didn't really agree. He didn't like the idea of his best friend's son in an orphanage, standing in a long line to get food. Or wearing old ragged clothes.

"Let's begin, shall we?" said Dumbledore.

"Mr. Black, can you describe the type of relationship you had with your parents?"

Sirius took a deep breath. He didn't have a very good relationship with his parents. He was afraid that his parents action would determine the kind of man he was.

Sirius took a big gulp of water and regretted it. The water had tasted funny, as if it had something else in it. Sirius had a strange feeling he had drunk Veritaserum, a truth potion.

"We're waiting, Mr. Black." Fudge said impatiently.

"My mother and father hated my guts." Sirius said without thinking of the consequences.

"Yes. All parents love their- what!"

"I was always treated like dirt. Always at the bottom of everything. I could never please them no matter how hard I tried. I got good grades in school, I joined every club, every team, I even went to church on sundays. But they were never pleased. They was so proud of my brother. He dropped out of school when he was in third grade, and my mother let him. I was never good enough. Never. And he was seen as a genius, an angel, some kind of god."

"How did that make you feel?"

"Hurt. I lost faith in myself. I gave up everything that was important in life. I dropped out of school my junior year."

"Oh ho! So is that what you're going to encourage young Harry Potter to do?"

"May I say something, minister?" Dumbledore spoke up.

"Of course."

"Sirius did make a terrible mistake. He was young. Naive. But his true friends made him see life in a different way. Sure he didn't go back to school, but he never encouraged his friends to drop out of school. He didn't want to see them throw their lives away. His heart was in the right place."

Hearing Dumbledore say that he was the reason James and Peter didn't drop out of school warmed him. Fudge, however, ignored these kind words.

"Okay. So you quit school. Then what?"

"I had nothing to do between those hours my best friends were at school, so I had to do something to pass the time."

"What did you do?"

"I ran the streets." Sirius admitted. "I got into constant fights. I got drunk. I did drugs. I sold drugs."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't care about myself anymore. I had to make money some how. My parents would never give me anything. I always had this attitude I would never succeed."

"Sirius had finally saw what he was doing wrong when he heard that Voldemort had his gang of Death Eaters, doing wrong." said Dumbledore. "He kind of saw a resemblance between himself and Voldemort."

"Don't say his name." Fudge said through gritted teeth.

Dumbledore ignored him. "You see, Voldemort,too, had dropped out of school when he was sixteen. He got good grades, was on teams. He even had a 3.0 GPA. But he had one thing in common with Sirius."

"And what was that?"

"He had no parents." Sirius said quietly.

"Voldemort had no motivation, so he just gave up everything. He ran the streets, and pretty soon he was a name that everyone feared. He was a murderer. Sirius didn't want to go down the same road. There was something Sirius had that Voldemort didn't. A heart. Sirius didn't want a life like that so he went out a found himself a job. He decided to get himself a job and start over."

Fudge had heard enough. There was no way in the world was he going to let Harry Potter go to a man who have things in common with Voldemort.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Black, but there is no way that Harry is going to you."

"And why not?" questioned Dumbledore.

"Why not? Why not? I am not about to watch Harry make the same mistakes as this man."

"You said it yourself, Cornelius. _Mistake._ Remember. . . everyone makes them. I'm not sure Sirius would make that mistake twice. He saw the era in his ways. He wants to make a fresh start."

Fudge stared at Dumbledore for a long time. He hate to admit it, but Dumbledore was right. He decided if Sirius had indeed led a decent life, he would give Harry custody. He turned his attention back towards Sirius.

"Tell me about your life now."

Sirius took a deep breath. Sure he was no longer the teenage boy who ran the streets and did drugs and got drunk, but he wasn't exactly a teacher, doctor, or lawyer.

"I currently live on Crescent Grove, in the Crescent Apartment. I work at the local bar Tipsy and I get paid six fifty an hour."

"That's not much money."

"It's enough for two people to get by."

"What kind of neighborhood is Crescent Grove anyway?"

"It's not exactly Boardwalk, but it's a fair New York Avenue."

Fudge was impress at how Sirius had went from Marvin Gardens, to Mediterranean Avenue, to New York Avenue.

"Very well. I hearby give you full custody of Harry James Potter."

Sirius face brighten. He now had Harry in his care. Now was his chance to show his parents what he could do. He could raise a child to live a successful life. He was not going to fail Harry, James, Lily, and he wasn't about to fail himself.

"I trust you will take very good care of Harry?"

"Of course I will."

"Very well." said the minister, standing up and shaking hands with Dumbledore. "I will be checking in and out on you. Dumbledore. . . good day."

Fudge placed his bowler hat on his head and left out of the room. Dumbledore nodded and Sirius and followed behind Fudge.

Sirius headed towards Harry's ward. Aspirina was applying medicine to Harry's scar when Sirius had entered the room.

"Is everything okay?" she asked when she heard him approaching.

"Yeah. Everythings fine."

Aspirina placed her hand in her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. She hesitated before giving it to Sirius.

"What's this?"

"I found it in Harry's pocket. It's a letter from Lily to you."

Sirius opened the paper and found himself staring at neat handwriting. He knew it was from Lily without being told. He recognized her handwriting. James, however, wrote like he had toes instead of fingers on his hand.

_Dear Sirius,_

_I have this feeling that me and James won't be around for much longer. I have a simple request. Look after Harry. Please protect him with your life. Raise him as if he was your own. Let him know that he is loved. I know with you he will be safe. Please raise him. Make us proud._

_Lily_

Sirius knew he had a lot of work to do. The first thing was change, for the best.


	4. Daycare

Part 2

Chapter 4

Daycare

Sirius had made the biggest change in his life. Sirius gave up smoking completely. He didn't drink in front of Harry, and he tried his hardest not to get into fights. The hardest thing he would have to give up is his girlfriend, Tanisha.

He had met Tanisha on his way to work, one summer day, three years ago, before Harry was born. It was boiling hot outside, and everyone resulted in caring umbrellas to keep from getting a sun burn.

Tanisha was in her early twenties. She had was slim with a curve in her body. She dressed as if all she had wanted was attention from a man. She was standing on the corner a block away from Tipsy, looking hot, yet extremely sexy, according to Sirius.

Tanisha wasn't exactly a good girl. She wasn't the kind of girl that you would want to bring home to mommy. Since Sirius had no mother, he didn't care.

Tanisha was forever having money. She didn't exactly have a job, but a woman like her you could imagine what kind of job she had. Sirius, however didn't care, he too slept with his fair share of women while they were dating.

Everything had started to change when Harry was born. She rarely saw him unless you count the times you see him at work. She constantly called his house only to get the answering machine. But she was in a towering rage when he brought Harry to his house, two years ago.

She demanded that he got rid of the baby at once. First she used body language and gifts to get her way, but when he refused, she started to get ugly. She scratched up his car. She sent her boyfriends after him. She threaten to leave him. Each time she came to his house, he was nursing Harry. She had had enough, she dumped Sirius and said she never needed him in the first place. He hadn't heard from her in two years.

She stayed clear from Tipsy, and was found no where near Crescent Grove. Sirius didn't really care. He had much more important things to take care of.

Harry was growing up more and more like his father. Harry felt that Sirius was more than his godfather. He felt that Sirius was his best friend. Harry was like Sirius's shadow. Whenever there was a Sirius, Harry wasn't too far away.

Harry was learning new words and growing so fast. Sirius had decided it was time to find Harry a school to go to. They were going to go after Sirius picked up his check and went shopping.

It was four o' clock in the morning when he heard Harry's sweet voice.

"Siwius." he said. "Wake up. It's shopping day."

Harry loved to shop. They went shopping every two weeks, and every two weeks they would go to the same stores, and buy the same items. Except clothes. Clothes were always different. Harry favorite part of the shopping trip was going to the local toy store, Toys-A-Lot. Every shopping day, SIrius took Harry to Toys-A-Lot, where he would let Harry pick out one toy, and Sirius would buy a new video game.

Harry had climbed on top of Sirius's sleeping form and opened one of his closed eye lids.

"Siwius. It's shopping day. You said we would go shopping."

"Har, the store is open twelve hours a day. We can go later." he responded, having no idea how early it was.

"But I want to go now." Harry pouted. "You promised."

At these words, Sirius opened his eyes. He found himself at a angry, puffed face Harry. Sirius loved it when Harry got angry. He didn't of course want to make him angry, but Harry got his face he made when he was angry. His face would get all puffy, like a JigglyPuff would when it gets mad. It made Harry look more cute than angry.

Harry sat up in bed and took looked at the clock. It was four ten. Sirius had taught Harry how to tell time without reading a clock. When the sun was up, but Sirius wasn't, that meant to stay in bed. If the sun went down and Sirius said he was tired, that meant it was bed time.

Harry never gave Sirius a hard time. He always did as he was told, and didn't hesitate when he was told to do something. Something had to be wrong if Harry was breaking the way of the clock.

"Har, it's really early and I was asleep." Sirius said kindly. "What does that mean?"

Harry climbed off Sirius and stood on the floor. He knew he had did wrong.

"It means I have to stay in bed." Harry answered timidly.

Sirius knew something definetly wrong. Harry was staring at his hands, and Harry wasn't exactly a shy person. He was only quiet when something is bothering him.

"Why don't you go back to bed?"

"I can't"

"Why not."

"I did something bad. Now I'm going to get into trwouble."

Sirius didn't exactly spoil Harry. He was like a normal child. He got rewarded for his good doing, and was punished for his bad doing. Harry didn't like to get punished so he was always well behaved. Sirius never laid his hands on Harry, or did any mental or verbal abuse. He just got time outs and Sirius wouldn't talk to him. Having Sirius mad at him was the worst punishment of all.

"What did you do, Har?"

Harry took a deep breath. "IwasasleepandIhadthisscarydreamsowhenIwokeupIwenttogogetsomemilkandIsmashedyourmilkjug."

Sirius looked at him with confusion. He hadn't heard a word the boy had said. He could tell he was afraid because Harry spoke very fast.

"Slow down." Sirius said. "What happened."

"I had a nightmare and broke your milk jug." he then looked at his feet. "I'm sowrry."

"It's okay, Harry. It was an accident. It's not like you threw the jug on the floor."

Harry shook his head. "But you told me not to touch glass and I did it anyway."

He was right. Sirius always told him not to touch glass. He was afraid Harry would cut himself, and he would hate to see Harry in pain. He also hated to punish Harry. He decided to let this punishment slide, so he found a way around it.

"Why didn't you wake me up to get a glass of milk?"

"You told me not to wake you up."

"But you woke me up to go shopping."

"I'm sowrry." Harry said again.

"Well, you apoligized, and I forgive you."

"You do?" he said, sounding relieved.

"Yeah, and I'm sorry I told you not to wake me up."

"It's okay. Siwius? C-can I have a hug?"

Sirius opened his arms, and Harry flung himself into them. They hugged each other tight. Sirius loved giving Harry hugs, it meant that Harry loved him and trusted him. And to Harry a hug meant loved and comfort.

"Why don't you go back to bed?"

"I can't. Can I sleep in here with you?"

Sirius thought for a moment before saying, "of course you can."

It was nine o' clock when Sirius and Harry woke up. They had breakfast, showered, and dressed. Sirius usually had one of the neighbors baby sit Harry while he was at work, but since they were going shopping today, he decided to bring Harry with him.

Sirius' boss, Apollo Johnson, didn't exactly mind. Some times he brought his own daughter to work, to keep Harry company. Apollo's daughter was two years older than Harry, but they got along just fine.

Since they were going shopping after work, Sirius decided to take his car. They arrived five minutes early.

Tipsy was the best bar in town. It was a bar big enough to fit a house in. Everyone loved this place. The drinks were affordable. The lights and decorations were very classy. And everyone just loved the service. There were everyday bar fights, of course. At this particular bar, you had to be careful of what you say and do, because it might result in getting your ass kicked.

Sirius and Harry walked into the bar where it was already crowded. Sirius placed Harry behind the counter, and went to change into his uniform.

Harry was to sit quietly and still while Sirius did his work. SIrius would check on Harry every hour making sure that he was okay and had everything he needed.

Harry loved coming to Sirius's job. He loved hearing everyone's conversation, even if he didn't understand them. He watched as two men argued with each other over there wives. He listened to a woman tell a group of men all about her boyfriend. Even the occasional drunk would come and offer Harry a beer.

"Hey, Buck." he was saying. "L-look at this. . . at this. . . small little bastard."

"Ain't he. . . the . . . yeah he's small." answered Buck. "Reckon he wants a. . . a. . . beer."

"Yeah. You. . .er. . .wanna beer, lil fella."

Unfortunetly, Sirius heard what they had said.

"Get the hell away from him you sick bastard." he yelled. "If I ever see you anywhere near my godson, I'ma bust a hole in your face."

The good news was that Harry didn't get a chance to find out what a beer was. The bad thing was that Harry had learned two new words. Both coming out of Sirius's mouth.

Just when Sirius thought the day couldn't get any worse, it did. Harry had seen sixteen fights. Four people making out on the table, and someone pulling out a gun.

By the end of Sirius' shift, he was on the verge of snapping. He quietly excepted his check and was on his way out of the door, when his boss spoke to him.

"Hey, Sirius. Why don't you stay for a joint?"

"I don't smoke anymore."

"I know you don't do drugs, but you can at least light a cigarette."

"I don't smoke anymore."

Apollo was already tipsy, so he wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer.

"Boy, the store isn't going any where. Sit down and smoke."

"I SAID NO!"

Apollo took a large gulp of beer before standing up. He staggered around the counter. HIs eyes were blood red and he was wobbling horribly. A dog would have had a easier time standing up on two legs than he did.

"I will not be spoken to like that." he slurred. "I let you work here for the last three years. I paid you money. Without me, you would be on the street."

"I don't need your money." Sirius yelled. "I never did need your money. I made it fine on my own since I was little."

"You filthy little liar. You need my money and you know it."

"Oh, yeah."

Sirius went into his wallet and withdrew his check. He then slowly began to tear it piece by piece by piece. When he finished, he stuck the bits of pieces in his wallet.

"Screw you! I quit!" he shouted, and left the building with a trembling Harry.

Sirius was still mad when they arrived home ten minutes later. He apologized to Harry before putting him down for a nap.

_I shouldn't have quit. _He thought, as he taped his check back together. _Now I have to find a new job, and school. _

As Sirius taped his check together, he thought long and hard for a job he qualified for. Since he didn't finish school, or had no intentions of finishing it, his choices were limited. He wasn't good at cooking, so he couldn't work in a resturant. He wasn't that good with handling money, so a cashier's job was off limits. He didn't like cleaning for other people, so he wasn't going to be a janitor. And with Harry, there was no way he could get another job at a bar.

Sirius' thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock at the door. The minute he left the room, little Harry Potter came in.

"Siwius. I'm hungee." he said.

Harry looked around the empty room. Sirius was no where in sight. There was no sign of food either. The only thing that was on the table was piecies of paper, that Harry mistake for candy. Harry reached for a piece a paper, and placed it in his mouth. It had no taste to it, but it was all that was out. Harry continued to eat the paper piece by piece until it was gone.

When Sirius came back into the room, he noticed something different about it. He couldn't put his finger on it. It was Harry's voice that made him realize what was missing.

"That paper needed more seasoning." Harry said.

Sirius realized that Harry had just eaten his entire check. The next time Harry went to the bathroom, his check will literally go down the drain.

"Why did you do that?" Sirius asked calmly.

Harry suddenly became interested in his hands.

"I know you heard me."

Harry still ignored him.

"Harry, look at me while I'm talking to you."

Harry looked up. He thought Sirius was going to punish him.

"I'm going to ask you one more time. Why did you do that?"

"I was hungee." Harry answered timidly. "We didn't go shopping like you said we would. You promised. You lied."

Sirius knelt down beside Harry, who still thought he was going to get punished. Harry slowly backed away.

"Harry. . ."

"No." Harry whined. "I don't want a time out. I want you to pick me up."

"Come here." but when Harry moved, he said "I won't give you a time out. I promise."

"Your going to take me to my room and leave me there."

"Harry, you didn't know. I'm not going to punish you against things you didn't know."

Harry moved a few paces closer. He was close, but not close enough for Sirius to touch him. If Sirius lied about going to the store. He was going to lie about the punishment.

"Harry, the reason we didn't go to the store is because I had no money. And with no money, I can buy no food." when Harry hesitated, he said. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

Harry thought for a minute and nodded.

"Can we go search for a school?"

"Of course we can."

That afternoon, they went searching for the perfect school for Harry, and the perfect job for Sirius. Sirius had found three jobs, two of which he turned down, and one that Harry turned down for him.

"Why can't I be a cop?" he joked, as they walked down the street.

"Their job's to dangerous."

"So what? Danger's my middle name."

Harry laughed. "No it's not."

"Okay, that's enough searching for jobs. Let's look at some schools."

They tried six public schools, three private schools, and a catholic school, but none of them seem to suit Harry.

It was six o' clock when Sirius suggested that they go home and try again, when Harry noticed a red building. A woman with blonde hair and a slim figure was hammering a sign to the door. Sirius thought that the woman looked gorgeous in her tight blue jeans and tight red shirt.

Sirius noticed a gold braclet on her wrist and several gold rings on each hand. She had two large gold hooped earrings dangling from her ears.

"What's that sign say, Siwius?" Harry's sweet voice, brought Sirius back to reality.

"Sesame Street Daycare. Open five day's a week. From six a.m. to six p.m."

"What's a daycare?"

"A daycare is a place where you come to learn and have fun." answered the woman with blonde hair. Now that they were closer, Sirius could see that she had baby blue eyes. She must have been listening in their conversation as they were walking.

"Hello." she said. "Are you interested in my daycare?"

"Yeah. Harry and I have been looking all day for the perfect school."

"How would you like a tour of my daycare before you make a final decision?"

"Can we Siwius?"

"Sure."

The woman led the way into the building. The building from the outside was small, but the space inside was huge. Harry's mouth fell wide open at the sight of all the toys and games. To him it looked like a small version of Toys-A-Lot.

They stood in a lobby that held a desk to sign in and out, a computer, and a stack of notices to the parent. The lobby led to three different directions. to their left was a small room, which held a computer and more games and toys that older kids can play with. Games that were too complex for Harry.

"That's the after school room." the woman explained, when she noticed Harry was staring into the room.

To the right held a classroom, with three circular tables, a bookshelf, cots for sleeping, and a teacher's desk.

"This is the classroom for the three and four year olds."

Up ahead was two bathrooms, one for the girls, one for the boys. And another hall which you couldn't tell where it led off to.

The woman led Harry and Sirius around the corner, near the classroom, and they was in another hallway. Up ahead was the kitchen, and to the right was another hallway, where they could see another classroom. But, the woman did not lead them that way, she led them into a door where you could see the laundry room and a small office.

She led the way into the office, which held a desk, computer, fax machine, copy machine, and three chairs.

She sat down behind her desk, and motioned Sirius and Harry to take the seats in front of her desk.

"Lolipop?" she offered, when they were all seated. Harry had chosen a red lolipop, but Sirius declined.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself." she began in a business like tone. "My name is Rachel Jackson and I am the director of this daycare. You are?"

"Sirius Black and Harry Potter." answered Sirius, as Harry sucked on his lolipop whether than listen.

"Okay. We're more than a place to play. We take the education of our kids very seriously. They not only learn how to write, recognize colors, and count, they learn to spell, read, and do math. They are taught manners through games, and they will be in a friendly, healthy, and safe enviroment. You with me?"

Sirius nodded. He thought that this was a perfect school. They learned more than the basics, and it sound like a good opportunity for Harry. It sounded like a great school, but where there was a great school, there was a great amount of money.

"Exactly how much is this going to cost?" he asked.

"Well there are the certain fees to be paid." said Rachel reaching into her desk. "There's a nutrition fee, books fee, field trip fee, supply fee. . ." as she spoke she began to search her desk. ". . .a fee fee."

"A what?" it sounded to Sirius as if he was paying a fee for everything. The way these fees went, was going to need a fee to pay a fee.

Rachel found what she was looking for. A thick packet of papers, which she handed over to Sirius. Sirius glanced at the packets, then back at Rachel, to the packets, to Harry, and then to Rachel again.

"This should explain any quesstions that you may have. If you have the time I'd be happy to go over the packet with you. Would you like to go play a game Harry?"

For Harry had finished with his lolipop and was now fiddling around with the papers on Rachel's desk.

Harry nooded his head, and left to explore the rest of his daycare.

Sirius had paid no attention to the conversation, and had no idea that Harry had left the room, he had been reading the packet and adding up the cost of Harry's education which was. . .

"FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS!" he exclaimed. "It cost two hundred just to get Harry into the school. And that's two hundred a month."

"But look how low the fees are."

"It doesn't matter how low they are. Five hundred punds is five hundred pounds. Do it look like I'm made of money?"

"It'll be easy paying five hundred pounds. Since you read colomn B, I take it you don't have a job."

"It's a good thing I don't. I would have been paying twice that amount." he then sighed. "Nothing never goes right for us. First I lose my best friends, then I lose my job, now I can't even get my godson into a decent school."

Rachel watched as Sirius through the packet down and palced his face in his hands. From the looks of it he had a very tough life, and there was more of him that meets the eye. He needed a job, Harry needed a school, and she needed another teacher. But could he be the answer to this problem. If she gives him a job, he would get a fifty percent discount, a check, and Harry would get an education. For her it meant less work.

With her mind made up she pushed the packet back toward Sirius. "You know, there is one thing you could do for me." she continued when Sirius looked up at her. "If you became a teacher here, you could get a fifty percent discount."

Sirius didn't look pleased as she inspected him to, instead he lowered his eyes and stared at the leg of her desk.

"I can't be a teacher. I never finished high school." he muttered.

"That's alright. You know your shapes and colors right?"

"Of course. I'm not stupid."

"Then you can teach the three and four year olds, and I'll take the five year olds."

Sirius stared at her with amazement. "You really want me to work for you?"

"Of course. We'll be partners." she said merrily. "So do you want to work for me?"

Sirius considered this for a moment. Of course he wanted the job, but it was so hard to trust people, but he needed a job, and Harry needed a school. He decided to let his guard down a little and trust her. After all, she was pretty.

"Okay." he said. "When can I start?"

Author's note: Thanks for the reviews. I know that the story takes place in England, however I'm not from England so I don't know much about it. So I'm going to go half and half. Sorry it took me so long to put this chapter up, but I've been busy enjoying my summer after finishing high school. I deserve a rest! See you in the next chapter.


	5. Playdates

Chapter 5

Playdates

Harry was so excited to start daycare. That night he was restless. Nothing would make him go to sleep. Not even after Sirius had read him six bedtime stories. Harry kept asking him questions about the daycare, and Sirius kept answering them.

"Will I make lots of friends?" he would ask. "Who's my teacher? Can we go now?"

It was two thirty in the morning when he had finally got Harry to bed. Too tired to go to his own room, he slept in the chair besides Harry's bed.

It felt like Sirius had just closed his eyes when he heard the alarm clock ringing in his room. He had sat it for five o' clock, because he had to be at work at six.

Sirius got to his feet and streched his legs, it was very uncomfortable to sleep in a chair. As, he streched he noticed one thing, Harry wasn't in his bed. In fact, Harry was no where to be seen.

"Harry?" he said looking around the room.

He headed out of the room. He looked in the other bedrooms, the bathrooms, the closets, the living room, and finally the kitchen. Harry was sitting at the table fully dressed and was finishing up his breakfast, a bowl of cereal and some orange juice. Harry looked up and saw Sirius standing in the kitchen door, looking in awe.

"I'm s'pose to be sleep, right?" Harry said timidly.

"How long have been up?"

Harry shrug. He didn't think it was to long, but the truth was he had woken up an hour before Sirius.

"I'm sorry." Harry said, but this time he didn't sound timid at all. Much more exited. "I couldn't sleep. I was just so excited about starting daycare."

"Understandable."

"I got washed, made breakfast. I even got dressed. Look!" he said as he spread his arms out wide, showing Sirius his clothes. He was wearing some blue jeans and a t shirt, which was placed on very neatly. Harry looked perfect except one thing.

"You've got your shoes on the wrong feet." Sirius said as he studied Harry down from head to toe.

"I knew that. I was just. . .uh. . .testing you."

Harry had arrived at the daycare five minutes before they opened. Harry was pacing back and forth, while Sirius sat on the ground waiting for Rachel.

Harry was so excited. He never been to a school before, and the only other friend he had was Sirius. That's when a sudden thought struck him. A terrifying thought. What if his classmates didn't like him? What if his teacher didn't like him?

Harry's excitement left him, and he lost the desire to pace, and went to go sit next to Sirius. Three minutes had went past when three people arrived at the school. It was a woman with red hair, and two kids, also with red hair. The woman was a plumped woman, with red hair and a kind face, she was pushing a stroller which held a young child. Walking beside her, and holding her hand was a boy with red hair and freckles. He too looked nervous.

"Hello." she said when she approached Sirius. "It's nice to know that I'm not the only one sitting out here today."

Sirius looked up at the woman. One look at her told him that she was the mother of one of his soon to be students. He might as well get to know the parents since he would be the man teaching thier students. Sirius stood up and extended his hand.

"Good morning, my name is Sirius Black." he said professionally. "I'm one of the teachers at the daycare. I work along side Ms. Jackson."

The woman shook his hand. "I'm Molly Weasley and this is Ronald Weasley. He'll be starting at this school today." she said gesturing to the boy, who had taken one step behind her.

"Oh, what luck. This is Harry. He's starting today too. Come say hi, Har."

Harry came to stand besides Sirius.

"Hi." he said shyly. "Nice to meet you." he then hid behind Sirius.

Molly and Sirius launched into a conversation about children. Harry and Ronald stayed behind their parents as they spoke. Neither of them making conversation. It was five minutes after six when Rachel arrived.

"I believe children are the future." Molly was saying.

"Yeah children are the future, but today belongs to me. We brought them into this world and we can take them out."

"Really, Mr. Black." said a voice from behind Sirius.

Sirius turned around and saw that Rachel was standing behind him, with a grin on her face. He didn't mean for her to have heard that.

"I was just kidding." said Sirius. "It was just a joke."

After saying good bye to Molly, Rachel, Sirius, Ronald, and Harry, went inside of the building. Harry and Ronald sat at the same table, where they were served breakfast, while Sirius and Rachel went into the kitchen for coffee.

It was seven thirty when all the kids had arrived and had breakfast, and eight o' clock when Rachel took the five year olds in the back, and Sirius kept the three and four year olds. He had about twenty one kids, which were all looking at him with beady eyes.

Sirius had managed to squeeze them all into three tables, and have their own personal space. Sirius picked up his attendence book, and began rollcall. The names, however, was not listed alphabetically.

"Ronald Weasley?"

"Here."

"Hermione Granger?"

"Here."

"Harry is here." he muttered.

"Draco. . .Malfoy." he said darkly.

"Here."

"Vincent Crabbe."

"Here."

"Gregory Goyle."

"Here."

"Pansy Parkinson?"

"Here."

"Lavender Brown?"

"Here."

"Pavarti and Padma Patil?"

"Here." said two twin girls.

"Seamus Finnagan?"

"Here."

"Neville Longbottom."

"Here." Neville had recieved a smile from Sirius.

"Dean Thomas?"

"Here."

"Katie Bell?"

"Here."

"Hannah Abott?"

"Here."

"Terry Boot?"

"Here."

"Susan Bones."

"Here."

"Justin Finch-Fletchley?"

"Here."

"Leanne?"

"Here."

"Roger Davies?"

"Here."

"And finally, Ernie Macmillian?"

"Here."

Sirius sat down the book and took another look around the classroom. They were still staring at him and looked as if they had moved a muscle. Did they not blink? Or were they some type of alien form. Which ever it was, these kids were not blinking, and kinda scared Sirius.

"Okay." he said. "Now that everyone is here, we can start. My name is Mr. Black, and I will be your teacher."

The class remained silent.

"Good morning class." he said, trying to make conversation.

"Good morning, Siwi- er, Mr. Black." said Harry.

Sirius had a sudden thought that the class was being so quiet because they were intimidated by him. They were used to Rachel and didn't know how strict he was. He needed to be careful, so they could relax around him.

"Let's get some work done." he said, still not getting no sign of intelligent movement. "How many of you know their colors?"

The class continued to stare. Harry looked around at his frighten classmates. What was they afraid of? Sirius was a kind man, even if he could be a little mean. Harry raised his hand, hoping to set an example for the class.

One by one, students started to raise their hand, until every hand was in the air. Sirius smiled at Harry and gave him a thumbs up.

Sirius walked over to a shelf which was filled with construction paper, writing paper, coloring utinsels, and other bits and pieces. Sirius located a plastic ziplock bag, which held circles made out of construction paper. Each circle was a different color, and on the back of the circle was the name of the color.

Sirius sat back down at his desk and faced the class.

"Can anyone tell me what this shape is?" said Sirius, reaching into the bag and pulling out a purple circle.

Hermione Granger raised her hand. "That's a circle." she said. "And it's purple."

"That's right. Good job." Sirius placed the purple circle on top of the desk, and pulled another out of the bag. "What color is this one?"

"I know that color." said Pavarti. "It's the color of our bathroom."

"Yeah." said her twin sister Padma. "That's blue."

"It sure is. What else is the color blue?"

The class was silent for a moment, then Ernie raised his hand.

"Your pants are blue." he said.

"Yes they are. Anything else?"

"The ocean is blue." said Seamus.

"Yes, the ocean is also blue. Ronald, what color is this?" he said, showing Ronald yet another circle.

Ronald hesitated. "That's black." he finally said.

After the class recognized colors, they worked on shapes, and then on numbers. By the time they counted to ten, by heart, Sirius had decided that the kids deserved a little recess.

He took them outside, where the five year olds were already playing on the slide and tire swing. Rachel was sitting on a milk crate, in the shade, under a tree. Sirius told his class to go play then he joined her.

"So how did the first few hours go?" she asked him, as he sat down on a crate.

"It was fine." he answered, watching the kids play. "There really smart."

There was a long awkward silence.

"So I've decided to make them spaghetti for lunch." said Rachel. "Is that all right?"

"Sure it's fine with me." he said, as he watched Harry show Ronald how to do a cartwheel. He attempted, but fell. "Can you make some garlic bread with it?"

"I love garlic bread and spaghetti." she replied.

Harry was having a great time at daycare. He was quite popular, and everyone seem to like him. Even the five year olds. Harry had made a ton of friends. In fact, there wasn't a moment when he was surrounded by a group of people. Everyone liked him and always wanted to sit next to him, and he came up with the best games to play during recess.

Weeks had gone by, and even the kids were getting used to Sirius. No longer did they stare at him as if he was some type of unknown creature.

Sirius and Rachel was also getting to know each other a little better. They had started talking about things outside of school. Rachel felt as if she could tell Sirius anything. This put Sirius in a bad position. The only friend he had was Harry. Since James and Lily, Harry's parents, had died, he found it hard to trust people. Although he was friendly towards them, he kept his distance. It was hard for him to trust another person, and he didn't want the pain he felt when his best friends died to come back.

It was in the four o' clock hour when dark storm clouds had drifted their way. Recess was cancelled so the kids were forced to play indoors. The daycare was very noisy due to all the children running around playing.

While Sirius filled out papers and his record book, the children played with puzzles, blocks, dolls, cars and trucks, and even in a playhouse.

Harry and his best friends Ronald and Hermione was sitting on the floor building a castle made of wooden blocks.

Harry was very creative for his age. He was good at coloring and painting, and he had a sense of musical talent to. He was very talented. Hermione was really smart. She was one of the first people who had advanced to writing her name on her own, rather than tracing it. Ronald, or Ron, as every one called him now, was really funny, but not as funny as his older brothers, Fred and George, who were identical twins.

Harry learned a lot about his two best friends, and in return, they learned a lot about him. They even looked past the part of staring at his forehead, and asking questions about his parents, or anything that would make him feel uncomfortable.

"We need something to place inside of the castle when we're done." said Harry. "I wish I had brought some of my toys with me. Then we could use my army men. I have twelve."

"Wow!" exclaimed Ron. "I only have one. I used to have two. My great aunt sent me one for my birthday once, but my baby sister, Ginny, swallowed it whole. Mom had to take her to the hospital afterwards and I had to stay with my dad and brothers. They're divorce."

"I can bring my Barbie doll. She can be the princess." said Hermione, who was paying no attention to the conversation.

Harry stared at Ron. He had just heard a word that he never heard before. "What does that mean?"

"A princess is a girl who -"

"I know what a princess is. It's the daughter of a king or queen." Harry said impatiently. "What does di...vorce mean?"

Ron continued building the castle. "I'm not exactly sure." he said placing the final block to the last tower. "But mom and dad don't live in the same house anymore. Hermione, do you know what divorce mean?"

Hermione looked up from the tower she was building. "It means that they are no longer married."

Harry knew that marriage had something to do with love, and wondered what could happen to stop two people from loving each other. He often wondered why him and Sirius wasn't married. They did love each other. Or did they?

"Why did they get a divorce?"

"I don't know. All I know is that Fred and George went to dad. Me and Ginny stayed with mom. And Percy, Bill, and Charlie, went to Canada to live with grandma."

"You're lucky." said Hermione. "You've got all those brothers and I'm an only child."

"So am I."

"Being an only child must be nice. What's it like?"

"Boring." answered Harry. "What's it like with brothers?"

"Well, it's never boring, but you do run out of room."

"Run out of room?" asked Harry. "How can you run out of room?"

"Before mom and dad got a divorce, we lived together in a small house. We had three bedrooms and it was nine of us. Mom, dad, and Ginny shared one room. Then it was Bill, Charlie, and Percy. And me, Fred, and George." Ron explained.

"I have my own room." Hermione said.

"Okay. Start cleaning up. It's story time." came Sirius's voice.

After they cleaned up. Sirius told them a story about a mountain explorer, and they played duck duck goose. When they were done it was time to go. At about five minutes to six, Ron, Harry, and Hermione was the only kids left.

They were sitting in the corner as Rachel and Sirius got there things together.

"Ask your parents if you could come to my house for a sleepover tomorrow." Harry said. "It can be like a playdate."

Just then two parents came in. One with bushy brown hair, Hermione's mother, and the other with red hair, Ron's mother. She was pushing a stroller.

Ron and Hermione ran up to give their parents a hug.

"Hello, Harry dear." said Molly, who adored Harry.

"Can we sleep over at Harry's house tomorrow? Please?" Hermione and Ron asked.

"Only if it's alright with Mr. Black."

"Sure, it's alright." Sirius said. "Ms. Jackson is coming over for tea tomorrow as well. Would you like to join us?"

"No thank you." said Hermione's mother. "I have to work."

"And Ginny has a check up." said Molly. "I'll be happy to drop Ron and Hermione off on my way to the doctor."

"That would be lovely." said Mrs. Granger.

After they signed there children out, they bidded everyone good bye, and the Weasleys and Grangers left the school.

"Okay, Har." said Sirius. "Got everything?"  
"Uh-huh."

"Have a nice evening, Ms. Jackson."

"Bye Mr. Black. Bye Harry."

"Bye-Bye." said Harry, as he followed Sirius out of the door and towards home.

Harry was looking forward to tomorrow and his playdate.


	6. A Mark of Friendship

Chapter 6

A Mark of Friendship

Sirius had set up the living room for Harry's playdate. He had put food and drinks on the table. He had brought down some of Harry's books, toys, and games that was in his room, for them to play. Ron and Hermione were coming over that after later, and Rachel would be there, a hour after them.

Harry had been looking forward to this playdate. He had never had company over his house. Harry wanted today to be perfect. He asked Sirius to cook all the foods that was most common, and to serve three different kinds of juices. They had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, popcorn, candy, chips, pizza, fruit, orange juice, apple juice, and grape juice. Harry picked out a lot of fun books to read, even though they couldn't read, but they read by the pictures. Harry brought down his favorite toys and games, and was sure that they all would have a wonderful time.

"There ya go, Har." said Sirius, eating a bit of popcorn. "You got food, toys, games, books. Anything else you want?"

"Yeah." said Harry. "Privacy. Can you not stick around when they get here?"

"I don't know. Do you think you can make this a clean party?"

"I won't let the house get dirty."

"Good. Ms. Jackson and I will be in the kitchen if you need anything."

"Okay. And I'll keep the party in the living room."

Mrs. Weasley showed up with Ron and Hermione, during the lunch hour. Sirius and Mrs. Weasley had a quick conversation about child care, emergency numbers, and other things. Then she left with a fussy Ginny, who apparently did not want to go to the doctor.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione started the playdate having lunch. Where they had fun making faces out of the food, arraging the food by shapes and colors, and having food fights, which were started by Ron.

Sirius had just wiped up the last of the juice when the doorbell rang. Sirius open the door and revealed Rachel in a dazzling short red dress. It had a split at the side that went up to her thigh and it was low cut revealing little breast. She was wearing matching hooped earrings and had clip on nails that was tastefully designed, by an expert. She smiled while Sirius stared.

"Hello, Sirius." when Sirius continued to stare, she added. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Er...right." he stepped back and welcome her into his home.

"You have a lovely home." she said, looking around. "Hello, guys." she said when she noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were all running around in circles shouting nonsense.

They all stopped, muttered a shy 'hello', and continued to run around. Sirius and Rachel went into the kitchen, where tea was waiting to be drunk.

"What do you wanna play now?" Harry asked, after they all had tired themselves out.

"Actually, I'm hot." said Hermione. "Want to read a book?"

She moved over to the couch, picked up a skinny book with a blue cover, and sat down. The book had a cartoon drawing of a skinny man on top of a tall mountain, who's peak was covered with snow.

"Oh. I know this book." she said. "I have it at home."

"What a surprise." Ron said sarcastically, taking a seat next to her.

"You can read it to us if you like." Harry said, sitting next to Ron. "It's my favorite story. It's called _Jimmy John Climbs a Mountain_."

"Okay." she replied opening the book. "I know this one by heart." she then began to read.

_One summer day, Jimmy John and his friends decided to climb a mountain. _

_They packed what they needed, food, flashlights, and water fountains._

_They packed tents, compasses, and even a boat._

_Jimmy John even packed his winter coat._

_Jimmy John about to climb_

_But his friends backed out. "It was a waste of time."_

_Jimmy John climbed alone._

_Oh how he wished he was at home._

_When Jimmy John reached the peak,_

_He fell fastly asleep._

_When Jimmy John reached home on the pave,_

_they said that he was brave._

_Jimmy John said with a moan._

_"Next time he go up the mountain, he won't go alone."_

"The end."

"Wish I could climb a mountain." Ron said, when Hermione closed the book. "Books have all the adventures."

"That's it!" blurted out Harry.

"What d'you mean?"

"We can climb a mountain." when Ron gave him a confused look, he continued. "Haven't you notice the big ole mountain sticking out the middle of the city?"

"That's Murder Mountain." Hermione explained. "It's rumored to be the dangerous mountain in the world. That's where it got it's name. Anyone who ventures up there is bound to die. There isn't a single soul who didn't die on that mountain. And if they reach the top, they never lived to tell the tale."

"Yeah." said Harry. "That's the mountain we're gonna climb tonight."

"Harry, didn't you here what I just said?"

"I'll be the leader." Harry said, ignoring Hermione. "Ron you can be the side kick."

Harry knew that Hermione didn't like being left behind. He knew that she would tag along and there was nothing she could say to change his mind.

"Who can I be?" she said.

"Little know-it-all."

Later that night, Harry, Hermione, and Ron laid wide awake, pondering over the adventure they would have that night. Sirius had always warned Harry to go anywhere by himself, and he felt bad about disobeying him.

"Hey, Ron." spoke Hermione's voice. "Yesterday you told us that your parents were divorced. Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

Harry could tell that Ron was pondering over this answer. At first, Harry thought that he would have told Hermione none of her business, but he opened his mouth to speak.

"I guess it had do something about how much money my family recieved." he began. He then hesitated and finally said, "You see, we're poor."

Harry knew that poor meant to have very little or no money. Sirius wasn't poor, but they were doing okay. Then there were people like the Malfoys, who were rich snobs.

"There wasn't enough money, food, and space for seven of us." Ron continued. "So my mother decided to split us up. My older brothers Fred and George went to my dad, who worked at the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. He was receiving a fair bit of money, but not enough to support all of us. Percy, Bill, and Charlie went to Canada to live with my Grandma. She's an administrative assistant and made a fair bit of money too. My mom took me and Ginny, and the ministry of magic agreed to help her out with money until she found a job. Once a month they would give her a check to pay for food and other supplies, and my dad still paid child support."

"What's that?" asked Harry.

"That's when a parent pays money toward his children." said Hermione. "They still love each other don't they?"

"Oh, sure." answered Ron. "Dad check on us all the time, but. . . sometimes I wonder if my family will ever get back together."

"They will." Harry encouraged softly.

"How do you know?"

Harry turned to face Ron. "Because things have a way to work out. Just because your family's not here physically with you don't mean they're gone. Your family's never gone no matter how far away they go. They live here," he motioned towards his heart. "in your heart."

There was a moment of silence then Hermione spoke in a soft whisper. "We'll always be friends, won't we?" he voice sounded as if she was about to cry. "No matter what happens and how far we go?"

"Of course." said Harry. "Y'know I never had a friend other than Sirius before."

"Me neither." said Hermione.

"I'm glad I met you guys." said Ron.

And they all, one by one, drifted of to sleep.

Awwwwwwwwww. Aren't they the sweetest? I think I'm gonna cry. Read and review please. And those who like Snape, check out my new fanfic Living in a School. I need some tissue. And maybe a hug.


	7. Murder Mountain

Chapter 7

Murder Mountain

Harry was awaken to whispers in the hallway. It was past midnight and it sounded as Rachel was still at the house. She was delaying their plans to get to Murder Mountain. Harry listened carefully trying to catch a glimpse of their conversation, as they stood right outside his door.

"I don't know, Sirius." Rachel's voice was saying. It sounded as Sirius was trying to talk Rachel into something. "I normally don't sleep with my employees."

"It's not like its going to hurt anyone." said Sirius's voice. "It's just one night."

Rachel hesistated and then said, "Alright. But for one night and that's it."

Harry heard the sound of two people making their way to Sirius's room, and then a door close. Sirius had gone to bed and would be sleep within minutes.

"Hey, guys, are you awake?" he whispered.

Hermione opened her eyes and looked at Harry, who was lying besides her. "What was that all about?" she whispered.

"No idea." he answered, then turned to Ron, who was snoring loudly. "Ron, wake up. It's time."

"No, mum." he said sleepily. "Just five more minutes."

"Ron, it's me."

Ron woke with a start, then looked around at Harry. "What are you doing in my house, Harry?"

"This is my house, Ron." Harry reminded him. "We're on a playdate, 'member."

"Oh yeah."

"Anyway," he went on. "We better start packing."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione began to pack the things they would need for their adventure. A tent, a compass, a toy boat, food, flashlights, Harry's winter coat. Ron even tried to pack the kitchen sink, until Hermione pointed out that it would be too big to carry.

Harry placed the back pack on his back then returned to his room, where he found a childs play car, that he would drive around the house. It was big enough to fit four friends in, and was painted a light blue. Harry drove the car down to the living room then he and Ron carried it outside.

Harry placed the back pack in the back of the car and got into the drivers seat. Ron sat next to him, and Hermione got in the back seat with the bag. They all buckled their seat belts and set off in the cool night.

The only sense of direction they had was the giant size mountain sticking out in the middle of the city. It was know as the most dangerous mountain in the world.

When they reach the mountain, Harry parked the car and they all got out of the car. He placed the bag onto his back, then turned to address his two friends.

"Once we get to the top, we're going to need a flag to mark our terrirory."

"We can use a stick and a sock." said Hermione. "And the word's 'territory.'"

Harry led the way up the rocky mountain, where they stumbled on rock after rock after rock. As they climbed they met no monsters, ghost, dead bodies, nor any other type of creature. The mountain seem safe.

After climing for about a half hour, they were breathless and exhausted. Harry, however, didn't want to stop, even if the other two did.

"But we can't stop now." he said. "We're almost to the top."

The truth was that they were more likely to invent self changing diapers than reach the top of the mountain. They weren't even half way up the mountain, but Harry wasn't going to quit. They continued to walk for another ten minutes.

"Wait, Harry." said Ron. "I think we left someone behind."

Harry turned around. Both Ron and Hermione was there. And he was definetly there. What was Ron talking about?

"We're all here."

"Then who's that?" Ron asked, pointing into the shadows.

There were three pairs of glaring yellow eyes from the darkness, The shadows were growling and seemed angred by their presence. Harry grabbed his friends' arms as they all took a step back from the shadow.

"Don't make a sound." Hermione whispered, but to late. Ron had stepped on a twig and it made a loud snapping sound. "Don't move."

The yellow eyes begin to move closer towards them. They slowly began to leave the shadow, and Harry could see a huge animal with four paws, whiskers, and catlike ears. A mountain lion. Their teeth were bared, and they looked annoyed.

Hermione stared horror struck, and Ron was sputtering in fear. Harry did the only thing that made since to him and yelled "RUN!"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran as fast as they could toward the top of the mountain. The lions tore after them. Harry knew that once they got to the top it was all a matter of time before they were eaten, but he wasn't going to turn around and make it any easier for the lions.

One of the lions made a great jumped and landed on the rock in front of them, and roared greatly. They skidded to a halt, with no where to go.

"It's over!" Ron moaned. "We're doomed. I love you mom, Fred, George. . ."

Ron continued to list family members, as Hermione muttered quick prayers. Harry looked around for something to defend himself with. He picked up a rock, and flung it as hard as he could, hitting the mountain lion in front of them in the head. The lion roared with pain, as the other two lions jumped on Harry and began eating him. Blood splashing everywhere. Ron and Hermione watched in horror, unable to move, as they friend was being torn to shreds.

"Run. . ." Harry whispered weakly.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other. Then Hermione said in a shaky voice. "We're not leaving you."

"Go. . .before. . .it's. . .too. . .late."

"No." she said as tears began to splash down her face. "You said we'll always be friends forever. You said it. We can't leave you."

Ron looked at Hermione, then at Harry. Her words obviously had effect on him, because he rushed towards a lion and miraculously pushed it off of Harry. It fell off the side of the mountain and out of side. The lion that was attacking Harry, turned towards Ron, and with a great leap, knocked itself and Ron off the side of the mountain.

"RON!" Hermione and Harry bellowed.

Harry crawled over to Hermione, who stood over the edge of the mountain, crying. Tears filled Harry's eyes. "It's all my fault." he cried. "I killed him. . .I killed Ron. I'm a murrarer."

Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry and they sobbed over their missing friend.

"We. . .all. . .said. . .it. . ." Hermione said between sobs. ". . .We. . .all. . .said. . .we'll. . .be. . .friends. . .forever. . ."

The two three year olds cried, oblivious to the fact that the injured lion was coming near them. About to kill Hermione, and finish Harry off."

"Harry, move!" said a voice.

Harry and Hermione looked to see a shaken Sirius and Rachel a few feet from where they were. Harry and Hermione started towards them, but the lion grabbed Hermione by the leg.

"Harry!" she screamed.

Harry whirled around, and saw Hermione getting dragged across the ground. Her leg a bloody mess.

Not hesitating, Harry jumped on the lion's back. He pulled out several of the lion's fur, who let go of Hermione and started up the mountain. Harry still on it's back.

"Look after Hermione." Sirius said starting up the mountain. "Get her back to the motorcycle with Ron, and get them out of here."

"Be careful." Rachel called after him. She then picked up Hermione and went down the mountain.

The mountain lion reached a dimly lit cool cave. It shook Harry off of it's back then began to advance on Harry. Harry layed on the ground gasping for air. The mountain lion lunged at Harry, froze in mid air, and fell. Stunned.

Sirius stood in the doorway, holding a strange stick. Harry had seen a blast of red light issue from it. That light made the mountain lion fall to the ground.

"Is it. . .dead?" Harry asked.

"No." answered Sirius. "Just stunned."

Harry looked around the cave nervously. He knew that he was in trouble. He had left the house without permission, and gotten his friends into danger. Ron was dead because of him. Ron? He had to tell Sirius all the trouble he had caused.

". . .Siwius. . .I killed him."

Sirius walked over to Harry and kneeled beside him. He brought Harry into his arms, and hugged him closely. All that mattered to Sirius was Harry's safety. He had to get them off of the mountain, before the lion woke up.

"It's alright, Harry." he whispered. Then he kissed the top of the small boy's head. "Let's go home. We'll talk then."

Since Rachel took the motorcycle, Sirius had to walk home. Harry had fallen asleep in his arms on the way down the mountain. He had a long night, so Sirius moved as fast as he could, careful not to disturbed the boy.

Harry hadn't woken up until they were half way home. He looked up at Sirius with concerned sleepy eyes.

"Where's Ron and Hermione?" he muttered.

"There safe. And so are you."

When they reached home, Sirius saw two cars pulling out of park and driving down the street. He knew that those cars belong to Ron and Hermione's parents. Rachel was standing at the door, waiting on them.

"How's Harry?" she asked, when they reached her.

"He's okay. Nothin I can't fix."

"Siwius?"

"Yes?"

"Am I in twouble?"

". . . . .no. I'm just glad that you're all right."

Harry gave Sirius a big hug, that looked so adorable. Rachel smiled and said, "I should head home. It's late."

Sirius and Harry broke apart, said good night, and headed in the house, while Rachel got in her car and pulled off.

Sirius placed Harry in his bed, tucking him in for the remainder of the night. Sirius had found Harry. Harry had never mentioned to Sirius about leaving the house, yet, Sirius found him. Did one of his friends trick off, or was their conversation overheard?

"You're wondering how I found you tonight, aren't you?" said Sirius.

"Yeah." admitted Harry. "Did Hermione tell?"

"No. No one tricked."

"Then how-"

"I really don't know how. It's just that I had a funny feeling that you were in danger. While I was asleep I had this image of you being attacked by mountain lions. I felt you get bitten, and I woke up to go check on you. But you weren't there. I knew that you were on Murder Mountain, home of the mountain lions. I think deep down inside you wanted me to come save you. To come get you." Sirius paused for a minute, then whispered. "I love you, Harry. If anything happened to you I don't know what I'd do."

"I love you too, Siwius." Harry whispered back. Then he closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

That's so sweet. Sniff. Sniff. If I would had done what Harry did you would not be hearing from me today. Anyway, read and review. And passed the tissue. Hugs for all. Hug your loved ones close.


	8. A New Student

Part 3

Chapter 8

A New Student

It had been a year since Harry had started daycare. Had met Ron and Hermione. Had went on top of Murder Mountain.

It was five o' clock in the morning, and four year old Harry Potter was found lying on the floor, playing with a dog, that was two shades of brown.

The dog was an average size. Not big enough to eat Harry, but big enough to let him ride on it's back. The dog was light brown and had a dark brown patch on his back. Harry decided to call him AJ.

Sirius had bought AJ at a dog pound for not only Harry's companionship, but for his protection. When Harry went on Murder Mountain, he had exposed his self to danger. Danger that a three year old boy had no business running into.

Luckily this incident was kept quiet. If the Ministry of Magic had found out, they would have took Harry away faster than you could say 'Quidditch'.

Since Murder Mountain, Harry, Ron, and Hermione's friendship grew stronger. They were constantly around each other. They even started calling each other on the phone. Sirius found this amusing, what would four year olds talk about?

"Harry," called Sirius' voice. "We have to live at a quarter to six, so walk AJ around the building."

"Okay." he yelled back.

Harry went to find the dog's leash. Sirius had allowed Harry to walk AJ around the building, only if he promised to not wonder off. Since it was snowing, Sirius decided not to accompany him, but would watch him out of the living room window. Sirius trained AJ to defend Harry long enough for him to get back into the house. Harry was still to young to be issued a wand.

Harry found the leash, and made his way to the living room. He placed his coat, scarfs, mittens, and earmuffs. Harry placed the leash on the dog, and headed out of the door.

Harry had been gone five minutes, when someone knocked on his back door. Sirius, who was mopping the kitchen floor, looked out of the window, and to his displeasure, it was his ex-girlfriend, Tanisha.

Sirius sighed, and open the back door.

"What do you want?" he asked impatiently.

"That's a nice way to greet an old friend. Miss me?"

"What do you want?" he repeated.

"You, of course" Tanisa stepped into the house. "Where's Howard?"

"His name is Harry." he snarled. "Don't you dare touch that boy."

"Alright." she said. "Can I touch you?"

"No. I told you I didn't want to see you again."

"I know you missed me. I'm here doing you a favor."

"I have to get ready for work. Do me a bigger favor and leave."

"Still work at Tipsy?"

"Go away. I don't ever won't to see you again."

"I was doing you a favor." she snapped. "I don't need you. You the one that need me."

"I can have a load of girls in line waiting for me. I'm that good looking. I can get a load of girls with my face. What you going to get with yours?"

Tanisha's eyes feeled up with tears. When she spoke, her face was shaky. "Everyone in Tipsy is going to hear about this." she said. "You better not come down there, 'cause they're going to kick your ass."

She turned and pulled open the door. She headed out of it, pushing down Harry, who was on his way in. She made her way down the stairs and out of sight.

"Who's that?"

"No one." Sirius answered glaring after Tanisha.

The kids were playing outside, while Sirius and Rachel was sitting in the kitchen with a woman and a small child. They left the back door open, but the screen closed, so that they could watch the kids snowball fight.

Sirius had not told Rachel about his encounter with his ex. He was in love with Rachel and didn't want her to feel uncomfortable. He thought all he had wanted was a one night stand. But, he just couldn't stop thinking about her.

"Are you sure Cho will be happy here?" the mother asked, breaking Sirius's thoughts.

"She'll be fine." Rachel reassured. "This is a very friendly environment."

"How many hours a day do they sleep?"

"Three hours a day."

"That's too long."

"Mrs. Chang," said Sirius, "Does your daughter fall right to sleep?"

"Well. . .no."

"And school starts at six o' clock. How far do you live from here?"

"Two hours away. There are no daycares around our house."

"I see." said Sirius in a business like voice. "Meaning you had to leave at four o' clockish. Right?"

"Yes."

"So you get up at threeish?"

"Correct."

"So don't you think Cho deserves this three hour nap?"

"I guess."

"She'll be fine."

Cho was placed in the five year old class, so Harry hadn't noticed Cho until it was only a few kids left and they were all in one room, watching the TV. It was a quarter to six, with only five children left; Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Cho.

When Harry had first seen Cho, he got this weird sensation in the body of his stomach. He had never seen a girl like her. Sure he'd seen lots of girls, but she was different.

The way her long dark hair glimmered in the light. The way she sat up straight as she stared at the cartoon on the TV. He had a feeling of protectiveness. If anything happened to her he would have to protect her. To be there for her. Being four years old, he didn't know what these feelings met, but if he told Sirius, he would tell him. Because he felt the same way with Rachel.

Both of them were in love, but didn't know how to express it.

When I was four, I didn't know what love was. And SIrius should know that love is not getting people into bed. I got the name AJ from a dog me and my siblings used to have when I was little. Now then, will Sirius and Harry get the girls that they won't? What about Tanisha? Find out eventually. Read and review please. Sorry that the chapter was so short, but I'm so tired. I woke up at eleven sunday morning, and didn't go to sleep till eight o' clock monday morning. Then I woke up at three o' clock, typed, fell back asleep at seven, and woke up at nine.


	9. The Sleepover part 1

Chapter 9

The Sleepover part 1

While the remaining kids were watching TV, Rachel and Sirius were in the kitchen cleaning up. There had been a long silence between them. The only noise that came out of the kitchen was the sound of water and dishes being put up.

Come to think of it, other than the time of talking to Cho's mother, Rachel was very quiet today. Sirus, who was constantly thinking about Rachel, made a point of talking to Harry. Something was wrong with her.

Sirius looked around the kitchen, thinking of what he should say to her. He didn't want to look as if he was tring to pry into her business.

"So how was our new student?" he asked.

"She was okay." she answered. "She's really smart."

Suddenly, Sirius and Rachel's hand grabbed the same plate. Their hands made contact, and they looked in each other's eyes. From the look of her, Rachel looked as something was bothering her. Seeing her like this made Sirius concerned. If she was a normal person, he wouldn't even think twice. She met a lot to him. Like Harry.

"Is something bothering you?" he asked taking the dish out of her hand, and placing it on the counter.

"No." she said quietly, then she said, "Yes."

"You want to talk about it?" he said, moving over to the table, so he could clean it. Rachel continued on the dishes.

"It's my parents." she said. "We had a big arguement. My father seems to think I'm wasting my time with this daycare stuff and that I should be a stay at home wife like my mom"

"Hmm. So why don't you?"

"For one reason I'm not married." she answered. "Anyway, I'm not that type of woman. My dad doesn't like it when I succeed at anything."

"You lost me there." he said, now beginning to sweep.

"When I was born, I was daddy's little girl." she turned off the water and moved over to the stove to clean it. "When I started school, he was upset. He wanted me to stay home and clean. He was angry when I told him no. When I got to high school, he wanted me to find a boyfriend, get pregnant, and stay home with my mother. I finished high school, he was angry."

"Sounds like your father is a real jerk. You want me to kick his-"

"You wanna have waffles for breakfast?" Rachel said, cutting him off.

"Sure. Go on."

"My father didn't want me to go to college. He wanted me to go on the streets and have sex for money. I graduated. He was furious. My mother was furiuos too, but she didn't care what I did. She was paying more attention to my little sister. She robbed a bank and was being awarded for it."

"Sounds like my family, but they're dead now. Thank God."

"Last night my dad threatened me." she hesitated, then went on. "With a knife."

"He didn't-"

"No. He said he had to go to bed for work, and he'll kill me if I go back to this daycare." she sobbed.

Not knowing what he was doing, Sirius walked over to Rachel and hugged her holding her close. He could smell her perfume and the shampoo in her hair, which smelled like peaches and cream.

"It's alright." he said quietly, as she sobbed on him. "Just don't go back."

"I. . .have. . .to. . .get. . .my. . .stuff. . ." she said between sobs. "the. . .minute. . .he. . .see's. . .me. . .he'll. . ." the rest of her words were muffled, as she pressed her face against Sirius.

"I'll come with you." he said. "He won't even think about touching you if I'm around."

"That won't matter. He'll hurt you."

"He can try. I'll hex him back to the stone age."

Rachel let out a sound that was a half laugh half cry. "Even if we do get my things. . .where will I go?"

"I have a four bedroom apartment." Sirius answered. "You can stay with me."

"I don't know." she said. "I don't like free loading off of people."

"Hey, you saved my life by giving me a job and Harry a school. It's the least I could do."

"Alright. But you have to let me help pay the bills, rent, and food."

"If that's what you want. It's not necessary."

"Thanks, Sirius. You're a good friend."

When six o' clock came, Harry and Cho were the only kids left. They had ran out of educational cartoons to watch, so Sirius had given them a book to read.

Cho's mother was late, and they made it clear that they charged late fees after six o' clock. Sirius didn't feel like talking to a police officer, telling him about a child that was left behind.

Cho, who was tired of reading, went into the kitchen, where Sirius was sitting in there alone. Rachel had gone to straighten her classroom.

"Mr. Black," she said timidly. "when is my mom getting here?"

"I'm not sure." he answered. "She should have been here."

Right on cue, the phone began to ring, Sirius went to answer it. It was Cho's mother. She was having car trouble, and was unable to come and pick Cho up. She asked if Sirius could look after her, and he accepted.

Sirius explained to Harry and Cho that they were going to have a baby sitter for a few hours while he went to Rachel's house and sort things out.

Sirius called the baby sitting hotline to look for a baby sitter, who were available for a few hours, and of course, was cheap.

The baby sitter arrived at the house at seven o'clock. He was wearing a dark trench coat and a black hat that was pulled over his eyes. He looked like a shadow.

Harry and Cho had this bad feeling about this man, but Sirius, who was in a hurry took no notice.

"If you need to contact me, my cell phone number's on the fridge. So is the doctor's, police, fire department, and resturant." Sirius explained. "They're bed time is at nine, and we shouldn't be but a few hours."

"Don't worry, Mr. Black." he said in a deep voice. "We'll have a great time."

"Cool." he turned to Harry. "You behave yourself. 'kay?"

Harry didn't say anything. He continued to stare at the strange man. He had a hunch that this man was not who he say he is, but very dangerous. Harry decided not to sleep a wink until Sirius got home.

"See you." said Sirius.

Sirius and Rachel left out of the door. The man waited until he heard a car pull out and drive off, before he spoke.

"The name's Greyback." he said. "And I'll be your baby sitter this evening."


	10. Sleepover part 2

Chapter 10

Sleepover part 2

"Okay." said Greyback. "Let's get some things straight. One, stay in your room. Two, stay out of my sight. And three, don't let me see you."

Not wanting any trouble, Harry led Cho to his bedroom and closed the door. Once inside, he placed a chair against the door knob, while Cho went to go sit on the bed.

"You have a nice room." she said.

"I got a bad feeling about that man." Harry said, ignoring the compliment.

"I know." she answered. "The best thing we can do is hide out in your room until Mr. Black gets here."

"That's exactly what he wants us to do. He's not expecting for us to fight back. He wants us standing still when he tries to hurt us."

"What?" she exclaimed. "Why would he hurt us?"

Harry began to pace around the room. He didn't know why anyone would try and hurt him. He was a nice person.

"Maybe he's a raper man."

"A what?"

"Never mind. We have to prepare an attack before he kills us."

It turned out that Rachel lived three hours away from Sirius. She had arrived to work by riding the bus every day.

The car ride was a quiet one. Rachel sat in the front seat looking out of the window. She wasn't really looking out of it. She was most likely lost in thought.

Sirius was the talkative type and didn't like silence. After about a half hour of silence, he broke it.

"Can you tell me more about your past?"

"I live on Stateway." she began not taking her eyes away from the window. "My dad came from a family that thinks that men are superior. The women had to stay at home, clean, cook, have kids, and run errands. They thought that the women could be beaten if they didn't obey."

"You mean all that stuff that happened some time in history?"

"Yes." she answered. "My dad wasn't that bad. He at least gave us a chance before beating us. He gave me several chances. Until yesterday."

"What about your boyfriends? Didn't they stick up for you?"

"No. I didn't allow my boyfriends to meet my parents. I was so embarrassed. My last boyfriend was the same way as my father. He was so bad that he wouldn't let me dump him."

"What?"

"He threatened to tell my father about me sneaking around to get to the library, when I was supposed to be at the club. He still thinks we're going together."

"Was he a psycho?"

"No. He was sane. Just had that 'men are better' attitude. You don't think that's true do you?"

"No way. That's the dumbest thing I ever heard of." he answered. "We made be different on the outside, but we're almost the same. We all have blood, a brain, and a heart, don't we? Some people turn out bad, some people turn out good. But we all need the important things in life." Rachel turned away from the window to look at him. "We all need food, water, shelter, love, and friends."

"So you don't believe that people with power are bad people?"

"No, I don't. Do you think all power is bad?"

"Yes. Look at my dad. He's the only man in the house and he makes all the calls. People would kill for power. It makes no sense."

"You're right. It don't. But power is just a symbol. Power is neither good nor evil. It's how people use their power. For example, I have power over Harry, but you don't see me using it to get my way or bully him around."

"I guess." she said turning back to the window. "I'm glad you use your power for good."

"Okay." said Harry. "We have water balloons, marbles, different types of balls, jacks, and walkie talkies."

Harry and Cho had been getting ready to escape if neccessary. They weren't about to sit in the house with a maniac and let him do anything to them.

Harry knew that he couldn't live with himself if Cho got hurt. He was going to protect her and make sure that she gets out of the house even if he didn't.

"Is that everything?"

"Yeah." he answered. "We'll just get AJ and go. We'll hide at-"

"Shh." she whispered.

They suddenly heard footsteps in the kitchen. It sounded as if Greyback were coming to check on them. If they were caught now, they'd be killed for sure.

"Pretend your sleep." Harry whispered.

Cho got into bed, while Harry moved the chair and turned of the light. He climbed into the bed and covered up.

They heard the door creak open, the light turn on, then off, and the door close. They waited until the sounds in the kitchen die out before they spoke.

"We can't leave with him walking around." Cho whispered.

"Maybe he'll fall asleep. Just make sure you don't."

"We can't stay up all night. Do you know any stories."

"Yeah. Siwius tells me one every full moon, about him as a kid."

"Sounds fun. It's a full moon tonight. Why don't you tell me."

Sirius and Rachel arrived at Rachel's house five minutes after ten. The house was an average size. It looked to have two floors and maybe a basement.

Rachel knocked on the door and they only waited a few seconds before a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes answered it. Rachel's mother.

"You back?" she snapped. "I'll get your father."

"There's no need." Sirius said coldly. "She's just here to get her stuff."

Mrs. Jackson looked him up and down as if he was something contagious, disguisting, "Who're you?"

"Don't worry. By the time I leave, you'll know, and won't forget."

Mrs. Jackson allowed them inside. Rachel led Sirius to the living room to meet her father. He was a thin man with a harsh feature. He looked as if he was from the military, or one of the counselors from Boot Camp.

He was sitting on the couch watching a movie of a man who was being tortured. He was holding a notebook and pencil, as if he was taking notes.

Sirius looked around the room, and spotted another girl looking a few years younger than Sirius. She was sitting in a chair. Her stomach had a little pudge in it. Sirius frowned at her and shook his head.

"Hey, Rachel." she said. "Who's your friend? You wanna go upstairs with me for about ten minutes?"

Four years ago, Sirius would have said 'yeah.' But he knew better. He wasn't hear for sex. He was here for Rachel.

Sirius ignored the girl and looked at Rachel's father. The man looked up from the movie at Sirius, then he looked at Rachel.

"Who's he's supposed to be. You finally decided to come to your senses and get pregnant?"

"No. I'm moving out."

"Didn't I tell you if you came back here I would kill you?"

Rachel took a step back from her father and hid behind Sirius. He could feel her shaking. This man was a psycho.

"I don't think you want to threaten her." Sirius said in a dangerous voice.

"Who're you? Her body guard?"

"I'm the man who's going to kick your ass if you don't let her get her stuff and leave."

Mr. Jackson rised from the couch, looking very menacing. Sirius, however, wasn't intimidated. Sirius wasn't about to let some muggle boss him around. He wasn't about to let a man with absolutely no power to harm such a beautiful person.

"Look. I haven't got all day. I've got two four and five year old children at the house waiting for me. Let her get her stuff."

"Fine." he said. "You've got ten minutes."

"She's got as long as she takes." Sirius said coldly. "And you will not bother her. You will not harm her. If you do I will kill you."

"Then I'll see you in hell."

"No you won't. 'Cause I'ma smack it out of you."

Sirius nodded at Rachel. She headed upstairs to her room, while Sirius stayed down stairs with the remainder of her family.


	11. Werewolf Kills Curiosity

Chapter 11

Werewolf Kills Curiosity

Harry had been snoring softly for the past half hour. After he finished telling Cho the story, they had fallen asleep. Unaware of the strange changes that were happening inside of the house.

It was now ten minutes after midnight. Harry had just woken up from the sound of growling and howling.

He knew it wasn't AJ. He had never heard his dog act like that before. Besides, the dog was asleep in Sirius's room. He enjoyed sleeping at the foot of Sirius's bed, mainly because it made Sirius mad and Harry laugh.

Curious of what kind of animal was inside of the house, Harry stepped out of the bed and put his small feet in his bunny slippers. He crept over to the door, careful not to wake up Cho, and opened it just enough to see the kitchen. No one was there.

Harry tip toed out of the room, careful not to make any noise. He peered down the hallway. Nothing was there. He walked down the hall and peered into the first storage room. The only thing that was in there was boxes of things that had no place in the house.

Harry continued down the hall, heading for the living room, but he stopped himself when he saw a large shadow heading his way.

No one in the house was that size. In fact, the only thing he seen that walked on all fours and was about that size was a mountain lion.

Harry went into the bathroom and hid behind the door. He heard the sound of walking, sniffing, then walking again.

Harry let out a sigh of relief. The lion had gone down the hall. It would probably sniff some boxes and chew some furniture, find out no one was home, then go home.

Then it dawned on Harry. He had left his bedroom door opened! It was only a matter of time that the lion find Cho and eat her. He had to do something.

Harry moved from behind the door and opened the bathroom door that led to Sirius's room. Harry was happy to see that AJ was woke, but was trapped in the room.

"Come here, AJ." Harry whispered. "Come here, boy."

The dog obediently jumped off the bed and made it's way to Harry. When the dog reached it's owner it gave him a lick and a tell wag.

Harry climbed onto the dog's back like it was a horse. He had to get to Cho. How long would she be able to hold off a lion? How long would she last if she was bitten? Harry knew that if she died he would kill himself.

"Okay, boy. To my room."

The dog obediently dashed out of the room and down the hall, to the kitchen, and to the open bedroom. Harry saw that the mountain lion wasn't a mountain lion. It had a wolfish body. It kind of looked like a man. A furry man. It was a man wolf, wolf man. A werewolf.

Sirius kept his eye on Mr. Jackson. No one in the living room made a sound nor any type of human movement. All of the residents' eyes were fixed on Sirius. They looked fearful.

Sirius was secretly pleased. This meant that everything was going to be okay. They weren't going to try anything funny. They were even to scared to move. But something else was bothering him. He had this feeling that something was happening to Harry. They needed to get back as soon as possible.

Sirius was brought back to reality by the sound of boxes and suitcases hitting the bottom of the stairs. Everyone jumped at the sound.

Rachel came into the room wearing blue jeans, a white shirt, some white name brand gym shoes, and a leather jacket.

"Okay." she said. "I have everything."

"If you leave out of **this** house with **that **man. I will-"

"You won't do anything." Sirius hissed. "You will not contact her. You may not look at her. Think about her. Mention her. If you do I will kill you five times before you hit the ground. Do I make myself clear?"

"Now see here-"

"Do I make myself clear?"

The Jacksons didn't say anything. They took one last glare at Rachel, and took one last fearful look at Sirius, then made they're way upstairs.

Sirius helped Rachel carry her things outside to the car. He loaded his trunk, while she sat silently in the car. When he had finished, Sirius went got into the car.

Rachel looked as if she was staring into space.

"You okay?" Sirius asked with concerned.

"Yeah." she answered quietly. "I was just thinking that this is a big change."

"Some times changes are a nice thing." he replied, pulling on his seatbelt. He was recalling from the way he acted before he got a job at Tipsy.

"Thanks for sticking up for me. I'm glad you're my friend."

Sirius silently started up the car. She had called him her friend. He hadn't had a friend since James and Lily died.

"Let's go home?"

The werewolf was advancing on a sleeping Cho. Harry could see the drool coming from the werewolf's mouth. He could see the sharp yellow teeth. The better to chew.

"Cho! Move!"

Cho woke up in an instant. She looked wearily around the room, until her eyes rested on the ugliest thing she ever seen. It looked like a giant man, covered in fur.

Cho let out a loud shrill. The werewolf moved back covering it's ears.

Taking advantage of the werewolf's distraction, AJ ran over to Cho. "Climb on!" When she did, AJ ran out of the room, and down the back door stairs.

Unfortunetly, the werewolf was fast, and had got back onto it's feet and was chasing them. They was running side by side. No matter what AJ did, the werewolf was just to fast.

The werewolf knocked the kids off the dog, who kept running. He was either stupid, or going to get help.

The werewolf walked over to the terrified children. They had gotten to their feet. Harry had stood defensively in front of Cho. If the werewolf wanted to hurt her, it'd have to go through him first.

The werewolf jumped. Harry and Cho closed their eyes. But they were never touched. They heard a whimper of pain. They opened their eyes. They saw the werewolf fighting another werewolf.

The second werewolf was a lighter shade of brown. It looked much younger.

"I thought that werewolves ate humans." Cho whispered.

"Let's get out of here."

Cho and Harry returned to the house unseen. They locked every door, every window, then locked themselves in Sirius's closet.

Sirius had pulled into his parking space when he heard Rachel gasp.

"Is that a werewolf?"

Sirius looked to where she was looking at. He saw two werewolves fighting outside. He didn't recognize the darker werewolf, but the lighter one looked familiar.

"Moony..."

"Stay here." he told Rachel, getting out of the car, pulling out his wand as he went.

The two werewolves froze. They turned around to see Sirius standing there. The lighter werewolf glanced at the wand, then at Sirius, and ran off.

"Wait." Sirius said chasing after the werewolf.

Sirius didn't mean any harm. He just wanted to talk to the werewolf. He hadn't seen it in three years and wanted to talk everything out. This werewolf was his friend Remus Lupin.

The werewolf stopped at the end of the alley and turned toward Sirius. It didn't look as if it was going to attack. It looked as if it's feelings were hurt.

Sirius stopped a few feet in front of the werewolf. They looked into each other eyes for a while, before Sirius spoke. "Hey," he said softly. "what're you doing here?"

The werewolf didn't answer. Not that it could talk. It looked in the direction of Sirius's apartment building. Sirius followed it's gaze.

"You wanted to see Harry?" it shook it's head. "You were looking for Peter?" it shook it's head again. "You were looking for. . .me?" A nod this time. "Wh-" but before he could answer the question, he heard a woman scream. He heard Rachel scream. He had left a werewolf with her.

Finally. Where have I been? I don't even know where I've been. Oh well. So Harry and Cho are safe from the werewolf, but Rachel's not. What happens if this incident gets out and Fudge founds out? Will Dumbledore be able to bell Sirius out of this? And why did Lupin want to talk to Sirius? And whatever happened to Peter? Til then.


	12. Don't Take Him Away

Chapter 12

Don't Take Him Away

Sirius had turned back towards the apartment building, where he had left Rachel alone with a werewolf.

When Sirius had reached the parking lot, the werewolf was scratching on the doors and windows, trying to enter the car.

Sirius took out his wand and took a careful aim at the werewolf's head.

"Stupefy!"

The werewolf turned around at the sound of Sirius's voice, only to get hit in the face with a blast of red light hit him in the face. The werewolf let out a howl, then fell to the floor, stunned.

Rachel slowly got out of the car, walked around it, and stood besides Sirius. She examined the werewolf before speaking.

"I-Is it dead?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"No." he answered. "Just stunned." he took a glance down the alley where he had saw his ex friend, then he turned back to Rachel. "Let's get upstairs before the spell wear off."

Rachel nodded and turned towards the stairs. Sirius took another glance down the alley, and then he turned to follow Rachel.

"Close shave, wasn't it, Black?"

Sirius turned around. He saw Albus Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge walking towards him.

Had they heard about the werewolves that were in close proximity to Harry? Was he in trouble? He knew he was. The question was: would Dumbledore be able to bell him out?

"It's nice to see you so well, Sirius." Dumbledore said, once he and Fudge reached him.

"Leaving a child home alone on a full moon where a werewolf could get him." Fudge said shaking his head.

"Fudge, I—"

"Save it for when we get upstairs."

Sirius, Dumbledore, Rachel, and Fudge all walked up the stairs to Sirius's apartment. When Sirius entered, he looked around the house and saw that it was quiet. Too quiet.

"We'll?" said Fudge. And when Sirius didn't answer, he added in an annoyed voice, "Where is Harry?"

Sirius laughed nervously. "He must be in the bathroom. Rachel, do you mind taking them to the kitchen and making some tea?"

"Not at all." she replied.

She knew that he needed time to look for Harry, and was willing to stall his guest. She knew that Harry had meant a lot to Sirius, and if he lost him, he would be lost himself. Besides, he had already helped her out more than once. It was time to return the favor.

Rachel led Dumbledore and Fudge to the back of the house. Sirius had waited until they were out of view to start his frantic search for Harry.

Dumbledore sat quietly at the table while Rachel bustled around making tea. Fudge, however, was examining every detail of the kitchen. Probably making sure it was clean and sanitary.

"Would you like some sugar with your tea?" she asked, as she placed lovely black-glassed mugs in front of them.

"Yes, please." said Dumbledore.

"Who are you, by the way?" Fudge asked rather rudely.

"Oh. . . I'm Sirius's colleague."

"You look like a slut."

"So, what kind of job do you have?" Dumbledore said hastily.

"I run my own daycare." Rachel answered, pouring hot water into four cups. "Sirius and I are teachers."

"Are you quite aware that Sirius doesn't qualify to be a real teacher. He doesn't even have a high school diploma."

"I think he's a wonderful teacher." she replied hotly.

Fudge didn't touch on the subject anymore. He just merely surveyed Rachel. Dumbledore took this opportunity to speak.

"I'm the principal of a muggle sch—you know what a muggle is, right?"

"Yes." said Rachel. "Isn't it great that wizards and muggles can live in such a peaceful world. I don't care how much power a wizard have. They're still beings."

"Were you once a stripper?" Fudge asked.

"Here he is." said Sirius.

He came into the kitchen, followed by two shaken children.

"How are you, Harry?" Dumbledore said kindly. "Do you remember me?"

"Who is this girl?" Fudge interrupted. "Black, are you kidnapping children?"

"Of course not. Harry's having a sleepover."

"With a girl? Are you teaching him how to sleep with females already?"

"No, I—"

"I'm sorry, Black, but you can't keep Harry. You are not eligible to take care of a child."

"I'm sure Sirius is." said Dumbledore.

"You're only saying that because you believe there's good in everybody. Mark my words, Dumbledore. That flaw will be the death of you."

"I believe there are good in everyone. I **know** there is good in Sirius."

"There is no good bone in his body. He's as evil as You-Know-Who."

"I am not." spat Sirius. "Fudge, I'm trying my best."

"Trying your best? The boy was home alone with on a full moon. No telling how long you been out with this. . . this trash."

"We weren't home alone." spoke a meek voice.

Everyone turned around at Harry's words. When he spoke he sounded shy, but his words were strong.

"Sirius had left us with a baby sitter."

"Come now, Harry." said Fudge with a hint of amusement in his voice. "You need not lie for this idiot."

"He's not lying." Cho said. "Sure Mr. Black's not perfect, but you're forgetting that he is human. There is no perfect person in the world. But, he is trying."

"How would you know? You don't live here."

"I can tell from the way he talks to Sirius. The way he talks about him. With love."

"Plus, he put a roof over his head," Rachel spoke. "keeps food in his stomach, and found him a school."

"A daycare is not a school."

"A school is a place to learn. Harry learns there."

"Fudge," Sirius said in a low sincere voice. "Please don't take Harry away. He means a lot to me. I love him."

Fudge looked as if he was going to say 'no'. But, with no valid reason, Sirius was still in custody of Harry.

"Alright, Black. You got off this easy, but next time you won't be so lucky."

"It sounds as if you're trying to purposely take Harry away." Dumbledore said in a calm voice.

"Of—of course not." He said. "Best be off. Good night." He said before he left.

"I have a feeling he'll be back." With that, Dumbledore also left.

Sirius was so relieved that Cho and Rachel had stuck up for him.

"Thank you, Cho. Now you and Harry go off to bed."

"Okay. Good night."

"Good night, Sirius."

They both went inside Harry's room and closed the door. Sirius wasn't worried. What do young people like them know about sex.

"I think we should turn in too."

"You can sleep in my room to—" but Rachel cut him off.

"Let's go to bed. . .together."

"Thank you." Harry and Sirius said in a unison.

Cho and Rachel leaned over to kiss their friends. Sirius, however, got more.

Took me long enough, but the chapter is up. So sweet. So now we heard from Lupin, Rachel's living with Sirius, and Fudge is trying to take Harry away. Please read and review. And check out short sequel stories to this fan fic, Harry's Tales. They're variety of short stories.


	13. Shopping

Part 4

Chapter 13

Shopping

Sirius never did get around to cleaning out one of the extra bedrooms. Rachel just shared a room with Sirius, and they were both okay about that.

With having both Rachel and Sirius in the house, Harry felt as if he had a real family. The only thing that was missing was a brother or a sister.

Harry had been asking for many months for a little brother or sister, but Sirius had told him 'no'. Harry had thought that Sirius had told him no because they didn't want to buy one at the time. Every time they went to the store, Harry would say, 'Don't forget to get a baby.'

Harry stopped asking when Sirius threatened that he would stay with the neighbors every time they went shopping. Harry never asked again.

It was Sunday, October first, and five year old Harry Potter was sitting on the back porch, drawing a picture of the sunset. Sirius had went to cash a paycheck, and Rachel was inside doing the dinner dishes. She had left the back door open, so she could keep an eye on Harry.

The autumn wind blew, and Harry shivered and pulled his sweater closer to him.

"Are you cold?" Rachel asked, when she noticed Harry shiver. "Do you want to come inside?"

"No." Harry answered, as he went back to coloring.

Harry heard a car pull up beneath him, in the parking space. Harry looked over the railing, and saw Sirius getting out of his car.

"Yay." Harry said happily. "Sirius is back."

"Okay." answered Rachel. "I'm all done with the dishes. I'll just go get my jacket."

"I'll do it." Harry said, as he ran pass her.

Sirius came into the back door and kissed Rachel on the cheek.

"The line at the bank was so long." he said, sitting down at the kitchen table. "I had to sit down on the floor while I waited for my turn."

"Well, today is the first." said Rachel. "A lot of people get checks on the first."

Harry came back into the kitchen with a black leather jacket on his head, the end of the coat trailing behind him.

"Thank you, Harry." said Rachel, taking the coat off the boy's head and putting it on.

"Hello, Sirius." Harry said, giving his godfather a hug.

"Hi, Har."

"Okay." said Rachel. "Why don't you go put Harry in the car while I lock up and set the alarm."

Ever since Harry was in close proximity to a werewolf, Sirius bought an alarm that would detect anyone who was breaking into the house. In the morning, when everyone was home, he would leave the doors unlocked. At night, he would set the alarm. It would sound if someone was breaking in, or if someone was getting out. The only people who knew the code was Sirius and Rachel. Not even the Dark Lord, himself, could get in.

"Alright." answered Sirius. "Ready to go shopping, Har.?"

"Yes."

Sirius and Harry went down to the car and only had to wait three minutes for Rachel to get in the car.

It was only a ten minute drive. Actually, a five minute drive. I took five minutes to find a parking space.

The store they had went to had cheap food. A great place to save money. The food might have been cheap, but you needed to pay for shopping carts and bags. The large store was full of customers, security guards, clerks, and customers children.

Sirius led the way to the entrance to the store, where only a few shopping carts remained. Sirius gave Harry some money so that he could get a shopping cart. With Sirius's help, he pushed it into the store.

The first thing that stopped at was the chips, where they had a variety of chips to choose from. Chips went well with sandwiches, or could be used as a snack. Sirius would choose a bag of Barbecue Potato Chips. Rachel would choose a bag of Plain Potato Chips. Harry would choose a bag of Cheese Puffs.

Next they would stop by the sugar and flour. Sirius would get three bags of flour and three bags of sugar.

Then came the cereal. Since Sirius and Rachel wasn't too big on cereal, Harry could choose any three boxes. Harry would choose a box of cereal that had a lot of color, a prize inside, or a picture of a cartoon. He would buy, Captain Crunch, Frosted Flakes, or Cookie Crisp.

Sirius would also buy a gallon of milk, three cartons of eggs, three loaves of bread (two wheat and one white.), three quarts of orange juice, pancake mix, syrup, pop, cookies, fruit (apples, oranges, and grapes.), popcorn, vegetables, lunch meat (salami, ham, bologna.), cheese, and can goods.

Then he would by the frozen foods; chicken, turkey, bacon, sausage, pizza, french fries, pork chops, steak, ground beef, fish, and a roast.

Then they would have to wait in a long check out line. When it was their turn, Harry would watched the clerk ring up the food. He loved the sound the machine made as the food went across the scanner.

After the groceries are paid for, they go over to a long table to bag them up. After all groceries are bagged, they go to the car and places them in the trunk.

They finished loading up the trunk, Rachel would start up the car while Sirius and Harry take the cart back, and get their money back. They were about to recieve there money, when there was a huge explosion and people began to scream.

"What the--" but before he could finish his sentence, Harry fell to the ground, clutching his forehead, screaming out in pain.

Sirius stooped to Harry's level and put his hand on the boy's shoulder, trying to calm him.

Rachel came towards Sirius with a worried expression on her face.

"What was that--" he didn't need to ask the question, because he saw the answer reflecting in her eyes.

Sirius looked behind him and saw a great blaze of fire.

I didn't know how people in England shop, so I just wrote about how people shopped around where I lived. About what the explsion was just put Harry and fire together. You'll know who caused the explosion. Til next time.


	14. Truth Be Told

Chapter 14

Truth Be Told

People were running away from the fire, and screaming in panic. Futher up the path, people in masks were walking down towards the store. Death Eaters.

"Who are they?" Rachel asked.

"They're Death Eaters." answered Sirius.

"What are-"

"Take Harry and run."

"What are you going to do?"

"Go! Don't worry about me." said Sirius, running towards the gang of Death Eaters.

Rachel grabbed Harry's and began to run in the same direction as all the others.

Harry had no idea what was going on. All he knew that all these people scared him, and that he was safe. . . as long as he stayed with Rachel.

The pain he had felt in his head had not yet subside, and with each minute, it grew very painful. It was almost as if there was a person who's presence made his head hurt.

Rachel led Harry into a deserted alley. She pulled him behind the garbage can, and stooped down to his level. She peered into his green eyes.

"Harry," she said in a whisper. "I want you to stay here. If anyone comes, I want you to stay hidden behind this garbage can. Do you understand?"

Harry began to cry.

"Where's Sirius?" he asked.

"Don't worry." she answered stroking his hair. "I'm going to go get him. Everything is going to be okay."

"No, it's not." Harry replied. "My head hurts and these people are scaring me. I want Sirius. I want to go home."

"That can be arranged." said a high-pitch voice.

They turned and saw a tall, thin man with a snake-like face. He had red eyes. The pupils were slits, like those belonging to a cat. He was wearing black robes with matching boots

Harry began to scream in agony. Rachel held Harry close, trying to calm him. She didn't know if he was screaming because of the man's sudden appearance, or if he was screaming because the man was very ugly.

"Who are you?" asked Rachel.

"I am your worst nightmare, muggle." the man answered smoothly.

"Muggle? Then you're a wizard. What do you want?"

"I have no reason to hurt you." he said quietly. "Just give me the boy, and I will leave."

Rachel pulled Harry even closer and took a step back. What could this man possibly want with Harry? All Rachel knew that this man was bad news. Harry obviously didn't know this man, and Rachel was not about to leave Sirius's godson with a complete stranger.

"He's not yours." she said in a shaky voice. "He doesn't like you. Leave now."

The man didn't leave. He just stood there glaring at Rachel.

"Muggle, I don't think you know who you are talking to. I am the powerfulliest wizard in the world. I am Lord Voldemort, the darkest wizard of all time."

"Y-you're the one who killed Harry's parents."

Harry stopped screaming and looked at the man.

His parents had been murdered. He did not know his parents had been murdered. No one never told him. He'd never asked. He always wondered why he had grown up with Sirius, who he knew wasn't his real father. His parents were dead.

"My. . .parents. . .are-"

"That's right, Harry." Voldemort said harshly. "I killed them. They didn't have to die. I would have spared them if they hadn't got in my way."

"What plans?" Harry asked.

"You mean your dear godfather never told you about your parents?"

"And you won't tell him either." Rachel said, taking a few more steps back. "Go away."

"It all started on the night of Halloween four years ago." continued Voldemort. "A man named Peter Pettigrew, friend of your father, told me the whereabouts of your parents. I had come to your house to kill you and only you. I'd have done it faster if your silly father hadn't have gotten in the way. Then your mudblood of a mother would not get out of the way either."

"Mudblood?" Harry said with a puzzled expression.

"It means 'dirty blood'. It means someone with non magic parents." Rachel answered.

Harry turned back to Voldemort. His blood boiling with anger.

"My mother wasn't dirty." he said angrily, missing the finer point of Rachel's explanation. "You're the one that's dirty. You rotten piece of shit."

Rachel gasped. Voldemort looked taken aback, but quickly recovered himself. He grinned a hideous grin.

"I can tell that your godfather cannot control his language around you." he said quietly. "Once a bastard, always a bastard. You have no manners what so ever. When I was your age, I would never have dared to use such language in front of adults."

"That's because you were busy killing people." Harry said.

"Harry, no!"

Harry had broken out of Rachel's grasp and lunged toward Voldemort, who simply pulled out his wand and blasted Harry back a few steps. Harry fell to the ground with a hard crash.

"Don't try to fight me, idiot boy." said Voldemort. "You cannot win. You can't even do magic properly."

Voldemort took a few steps closer to Harry, his wand raised. Before he could do anything, Rachel had jumped in between Harry and Voldemort.

"I will not allow you to hurt this child. Not in my presence."

"FIne, I'll have to kill you won't I?"

Rachel stood her ground. She would fight for Harry even though she knew she was up against the killing curse. It was her love for Harry and Sirius that made her fight.

When Voldemort saw that Rachel wasn't getting out of the way, he punched her hard in the face, knocking her down. Then he kicked her several times.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Harry screamed.

Harry felt as if there was a great surge a magic screaming for release. All of a sudden, Voldemort was knocked to the ground. Harry edged around him to make sure he was dead. He wasn't, he was trying to stand up, but was having a difficult time.

Harry rushed over to Rachel, who had her face covered in her hands. Harry gently moved her hands and saw that her face was a bloody mess.

"I sorry, Harry." she said in a whisper. "I tried."

Harry's eyes began to water and tears slowly poured down his face.

"What should I do?" he asked.

"Don't worry about me. I want you to get yourself out of here. I want you to run like you never ran before, okay?"

Harry nodded. He gave Rachel a quick hug, then sat off down the alley.

Harry ran as fast as he could. He continued to run without looking back. The only thing that stopped him, was a sudden crash, that knocked him off his feet.

Harry looked up and saw that the man was tall. He had long, greasy black hair, and cold, dark eyes. His face was etched with lines of dislike as he glared down at Harry.

Harry sat there. Looking at the man.

Yay another chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review. Please check out Harry Tales. Even if you don't like the stories you could review and check to see how I'm doing. You can also make request. They're sequels.


	15. The Attack 2

Chapter 15

The Attack

The man continued to stare down at Harry. Harry looked into the man's cold, dark eyes. It was as if he was reading the man's feelings.

_Death Eater. Supporter of Lord Voldemort. Spy._

Harry knew that there was more to this man. If he was helping the hideous man in the alley, he wouldn't help him. He would take him back to the alley to be killed. Like his parents.

Harry needed this man to find Sirius. He wanted to ask why he never told him about his parents. He wanted to ask how he could deal with their death. But maybe Sirius never got over it. Maybe his parents was something he couldn't talk about, because they were his best friends.

Then Sirius would be the one to go into the alley to help Rachel. Harry stared through the man once again, trying to see pass all the darkness within.

_Misunderstood. Helpful. Strong. Talented._

Harry jumped to his feet, startling the man. Harry moved closer to the man, but not so close that the man could touch him.

"Please," he said. "You have to help me. I'm lost and I need to find my godfather. Rachel's hurt."

Harry stared at the man, his expression unreadable. Harry didn't have time to waste. The longer he was without Sirius, the longer Rachel was hurt.

Harry decided that the man couldn't help him, so he turned to leave. That's when the man first spoke.

"You are in danger." he said quietly.

Harry turned around.

"What?"

"The Dark Lord will find you and hunt you down."

"The 'Dark Lord'? You mean Vol. . .de. . .mort?"

The man did something that Harry didn't understand why. He winced at the name 'Voldemort'. Was he afraid of him.

"Do not say the Dark Lord's name." he said quietly.

"Huh? Why no. . .never mind. You have to help me. Please."

The man studied Harry for a minute. He saw how much he needed his godfather. The man nodded. Harry looked thrilled.

"Thank you, Mister. . .Mister. . .Mister what?"

"Snape."

"Thank you, Mister Snape. I'm Harry."

Harry held on to Snape's hand as Snape led him down the deserted street, but not back towards the store where Sirius was last seen.

"Where are we going?" asked Harry.

"How 'bout a bite to eat. I bet you're hungry."

"Yes."

"I'll take you to get something to eat. Then I'll call Black."

Harry didn't ask how Snape knew his godfather's last name. He just continued to follow Snape.

"I think he came over here." said a female's voice.

Sirius had been fighting his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange when quite a number off Death Eaters turned up. He had been forced to run away and hide.

Sirius knew how to fight, in the muggle way and the wizarding way. He knew when he was out numbered.

He was hiding behind several garbage cans by the store they had just shopped at. Sirius had already sustained several injuries and he didn't know how much he more damage he could take.

Sirius needed to get to Harry and Rachel and take them home. He already had suffered enough damage. The Aurors at the Ministry of Magic can take care of the rest.

Sirius suddenly heard footsteps approaching. He knew that he had no where to run. He knew it was all over. Or maybe they would see that no one was in the area and leave.

Sirius knew that that was less likely when he heard his cousin say, "Check behind those garbage cans."

Sirius began to crawl from behind the garbage can, when a blast was issued. It was so powerful that it not only blasted the garbage can, it hit Sirius, who's wand flew out of his hands, and slammed hard into the wall.

Bellatrix Lestrange came into Sirius blurred vision, along with a number of other Death Eaters.

"There you are." said Bellatrix. "Are you ready for pain?"

Sirius knew that he'd never be able to get up in time. He was in too much pain to even breath properly.

Bellatrix raised her wand and pointed it at Sirius.

"This is for the Dark Lord and for being a traitor." she took a deep breath. "_Crucio_!"

Sirius suddenly felt like he was being stabbed by hundreds of knives. Sirius laid on the ground screaming in agony and twitching. He had only had a few minutes of pain before he blacked out.

Before he completely went out he heard a voice. A voice that he had not heard in years. A voice that he had been waiting to hear. A voice that yelled, "STUPEFY!"

Another chapter done. I don't know how it sounds. I was half asleep when I wrote this. Would you like to take a guess of who's voice that was? Please read and review.


	16. Together Again

Chapter 16

Together again

Rachel raised her head off of the ground. She had been out for what felt like a long time and her head was throbbing horribly. She looked around and saw that she was still in the dark alley, which was now deserted.

Rachel slowly pushed herself up and sat in a sitting position. She knew that her face looked a hot mess, but didn't care. All Rachel wanted to do was find Sirius and Harry and go home. That didn't seem possible now. They were all separated and she had no idea where they were.

Rachel suddenly had a idea. She reached inside her leather jacket and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed a few chosen numbers and waited. If he was okay, he would answer his phone. If he didn't she would think he was either hurt or dead.

The phone stopped ringing and she could here a man's voice. Not Sirius's, but it was light and kind.

"Hello?" she asked. "Who is this?. . .Where's Sirius?. . .I'm a friend of his. . .No, really. . .Is he alright?. . ."

Rachel continued to ask the man questions about Sirius health and whereabouts, but the man didn't trust her so he didn't give her any answers.

Finally, he got annoyed and hung the phone up on her.

"Hello? Hello?" she said, but she knew it was hopeless. The man was gone.

Rachel placed her hands in her face and began to cry. She had no idea where Sirius was, or Harry. She was alone in the middle of a dark alley.

What if she never hear Sirius and Harry's sweet voice? What if they were both dead? What would she do without them? Would she have to go back to living with her parents?

Rachel began rocking back and forth at these thoughts.

She was so traumatized that she didn't even here footsteps approaching her.

"Hey, are you alright?" said a man's voice.

Rachel looked up and saw a tall man with red hair. He was wearing a patched up pair of blue jeans and a shabby white shirt. He didn't look like a supporter of Voldemort, but she wasn't going to trust him.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Arthur Weasley. I work for the Ministry of Magic. In the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts."

"How do I know that you're not a Death Eater impersonating Arthur Weasley?" asked Rachel. "You could have easily have taken Polyjuice Potion."

The man chuckled. "You really are smart. Are you a wizard?"

"No." she answered simply. "Can I have some identification please?"

The man didn't hesitate. He simply just reach into his back pocket and pulled out a brown shabby wallet. He looked through it and pulled out an I.D. card and handed it over to Rachel.

Rachel looked at it thoroughly. Making sure that it was him. It was, but that didn't mean anything.

She handed it back to him. "You could have stolen that."

Arthur pocketed his I.D., then said, "Either you can believe me and I help you, or you won't believe me, and I'll still help you. Either way, I have to help you."

"Alright." said Rachel. "I need to find Sirius Black. He's about this tall-"

"I know what he looks like." said Arthur. "Come on. My car's not to far from here. We'll cover more land if we drive."

Arthur began to walk down the alley. Rachel hesitated, then followed.

The man hung up the phone and returned to Sirius, who was laying on a booth in a donut restaurant.

This man was tall and thin. He had graying light-brown hair, although he was around Sirius's age. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a red t-shirt. This man was Sirius's ex-best friend, Remus Lupin.

Lupin had believed Sirius to be a spy for Voldemort. He had also believed that it was Sirius's fault that Harry's parents had died. He thought he would never forgive him, but as the years went on, Lupin missed his friend.

Peter had disappeared, James and Lily were dead, and he was not talking to Sirius. So he was left alone. He hadn't seen Sirius in a year.

Lupin was saving Harry's life the last time he saw Sirius. Lupin wanted to apologize to Sirius, but he knew that Sirius was angry, which made Lupin a little angry too.

Sirius' cell phone began to ring again. Lupin answered it.

"Hello?. . .Severus?. . .It's me, Remus. . .Lupin. You what?. . .You have Harry?"

Sirius stirred and let out a little moan. "Harry?"

"Where are you?. . .Okay, I'll meet you at Yummy-Yummy."

Sirius slowly opened his eyes. He found himself in a dark room with many tables and a counter. The place smelled of donuts.

Sirius groaned as he slowly sat in a sitting position. He looked around the room and spotted Lupin holding his phone.

"Remus?"

"Sirius. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." he got out of the booth. "But I have to find Harry and Rachel."

"I'm glad you're up. If we hurry we can meet Snape."

"Snape?"

"He has Harry. Don't worry, he's safe." Lupin said at the expression on Sirius's face. "Let's go."

Snape and Harry had been waiting at Yummy-Yummy for twenty minutes. No one had arrived.

Harry was sitting on the wall of the store eating a slice of sausage pizza and drinking a small juice.

"I'm finished." Harry told Snape.

Snape took the empty container of juice out of Harry's hand and used a napkin that came with the pizza to wipe the grease from Harry's face. He was so gentle when he did it.

"Look." Harry said suddenly. "There's Sirius's car."

Harry turned and saw a polished red car park in front of the store.

Sirius and Lupin got out of the car. Harry rushed over at Sirius and hugged him tightly.

"Are you alright, Harry?" asked Sirius.

"I'm fine." he answered. "Mister Snape--" but he broke off and noticed that Snape had vanished.

"Don't worry about him." Sirius said. "Thanks, R--" he too broke off. Lupin had disappeared.

A car horn blew and Rachel got out of the car, which drove off immediately.

"Rachel!" they both exclaimed.

Rachel ran over to them and they all hugged each other tightly. They were all lucky. All of them was unharmed.

Yay for them. That's another year they get to live. Thanks for the reviews. You all are wonderful. Please stick with me and continue to review.


	17. Lorraine Spiral

Part 5 Chapter 17 

Lorraine Spiral

It had been months since the attack at the shopping center, but it felt as though it was still fresh in Harry's head. Harry had told Sirius what had happened between him and Voldemort and asked the truth about his parents.

Swearing loudly, Harry told him every last detail without holding back. Harry was traumatized for a few weeks, but after a while he accepted the fact that his parents were dead and he had a murderous lunatic after him.

Sirius, however, had a lot of other things on his mind. He didn't have time to mention them to Rachel because they were busy trying to get Harry into elementary school.

It was late August, and they were sitting in the daycare looking a variety of brochures from schools that they visited.

Harry had turned six, last month, and was too old to keep attending Rachel's daycare. He could still visit it and that made him happy. He enjoyed playing with the other students and helping Rachel during naptime, while Sirius took his own lunch break. He never told them where he was going. He just said, 'I'm going to take my lunch break.'

Harry's favorite part of the day is when he played with Ron's sister, Ginny Weasley. She had flaming red hair like her brothers and had a flowery smell that Harry liked. They were inseparable. When Harry went into the kitchen, Ginny would follow him. She wouldn't even get into trouble (no student was allowed to leave the classroom without permission.). Rachel thought it was cute and Sirius, lost in thought almost every second, had not noticed.

Sirius was thinking a lot about his friend, Remus Lupin. He missed him and was willing to go talk to him, to sort out their problem and become friends again. The challenge was talking to Lupin. When he wasn't busy at work, he was paying bills and rent, looking for a school for Harry, and of course, looking after Harry, which was a round the clock job.

He would have to ask Rachel for a vacation, so he could have at least a week to calm Lupin down and get him to talk.

During their own days, James and Sirius may have been the ringleaders of the group, but Lupin was like the 'mother' of the group; he kept them in line.

"We can send Harry to this school," said Rachel, bringing Sirius back to reality. "It's called _Canine_ and it's only a town over. I could change the schedule around. . ."

"You can!"

"Yeah," she answered, not noticing the excitement in his voice. "We open at six, so I can do from six to two. You could start at nine thirty and leave at six. I'll take my lunch break at one o' clock and you can have yours at two."

"Oh." Sirius said in a disappointed voice.

This time, Rachel caught the sound in his voice and looked at him more closely.

"Are you alright," she asked. "You haven't been your cheerful self lately."

"I'm. . .fine." he responded. "I just don't want Harry to go to Canine. It's like a military there."

Harry came into the kitchen and leaned onto the table.

"All the kids are sleep now," he said looking at the brochures. "What are these?"

He picked up a brochure with a small school on it called _Smeltings_.

"We're looking at schools," Rachel told Harry. "Remember how we discuss that you were too big to go to daycare, so we're sending you to big people's school."

"Why do I have to go to school anyway?"

"Because if you don't Fudge'll get mad." Sirius said grimly.

"Who's Fudge? Is he edible?"

"What Sirius meant to say was that you go to school to learn," Rachel took the brochure out of his hands and laid it on the table with all the others. "Which school would you want to go to?"

Harry looked at all the brochures on the table. He saw pictures of small schools, big schools, and schools that took up three buildings. But the school that interested Harry the most was two large brown buildings, and a row of small red houses. In the middle of the building was a picture of a multi-colored cat. Underneath that was the word 'Fuzzy.'

"I want to go to this one." Harry said, picking up the brochure.

"It's not to far from your house, Sirius," she said, looking at the brochure. "It's located in town and you want have any trouble getting him in. There's a town rule saying that if you can't find a school for your child, they have to go to the local school. Fuzzy is our local school."

"What's a town?"

"A town is smaller than a city. Our town is called Fuzzy Town." Sirius answered.

"We live in a town? What's a city?"

"Yeah, we live in a town," he answered. "A city is bigger than a town with more people."

"Okay," said Rachel, before Harry can ask another question. "We can stop by Fuzzy on the way home."

Sirius never did get a chance to talk to Rachel about his problem. It was now a quarter to six and they were waiting in the three-year-old classroom for Mrs. Weasley to pick up Ginny.

Harry and Ginny, who were tired of watching television, started a game of spider tag. Rachel worked on some paper work, occasionally looking at Sirius, who was staring blankly out of the window.

It was five minutes to six, when Mrs. Weasley showed up. They said good night and left.

After Rachel turned off all the lights and set the alarm, they were driving down the street, (speeding is more like it.) towards Fuzzy.

When they had reached it, a young woman wearing a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, and some white flip-flops, was locking the school.

"Hey, wait!" Sirius yelled. 'Where're you going?"

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a—Rachel?" she said when she spotted Rachel, who was walking towards them, holding Harry's hand.

"Lorraine?"

There was a long pause, then. . .

"I can't believe it's you!" Lorraine exclaimed.

"You look great."

"I love those shoes."

"Yeah. I love your shoes too."

"You must tell me how you do your hair."

It went on and on like that for five minutes until Sirius said, "Do you mind telling me what's going on here?"

"Sirius, this is my best friend Lorraine Spiral." Rachel explained. "We went to school together. We both wanted to have a career in the field of education. Lorraine wanted to be a principal and I wanted to own a daycare."

Sirius stomach churned. The word 'best friend' made Sirius think of Lupin and how the Mauraders all had their own career plans. James wanted to be a famous Qudditch player, Lupin wanted to go into retail, Peter wanted to be a mystery shopper, and Sirius wanted to be a police officer, but under extreme circumstances, he couldn't.

"That's. . .er. . .great." he said.

"Is this your son?" Lorraine asked Rachel, her eyes on Harry.

"No," answered Rachel. "This is Harry Potter, Sirius's godson."

"Really? You're Harry Potter?" her eyes roved over his scar. "Are you interested in my school?"

Harry nodded shyly, but didn't say anything. Ever since he ran into Voldemort, he was cautious about who he talked to.

"Why don't we talk business in the car? You could give me a ride to my hair appointment. My husband has the car."

Before Sirius could object, Rachel led Lorraine to the car, talking along the way.


	18. It Comes Out

Chapter 18 

It comes out

It only took a little persuasion to get Harry into Lorraine's school, Rachel braiding her hair for the first day of school.

The rest of the summer was chaotic for Sirius. He had to work, buy Harry school supplies and clothes, and he also had an appointment with Cornelius Fudge, who wanted to make sure that Harry was well and healthy before going to school.

During all of these things meant that Sirius had no chance to talk to Rachel about Lupin. Every time he tried, Harry would ask him a question.

Sirius ceased the opportunity while Harry was in the living room, drawing a picture. Rachel was cleaning the kitchen.

Sirius came into the kitchen and casually leaned against the counter, as he watched Rachel wash the kitchen. She saw him standing there through the crystal clear window.

"You need something," she asked, but Sirius shook his head. "You know I don't like people in the room while I'm cleaning."

Sirius took a deep breath. "Rachel. . ."

Sirius broke off when he heard Harry coming down the hall.

"Sirius, why is the earth round?"

"Why don't you go get ready for bed? I'll tell you a story about the earth."

"I have to go to bed now," groaned Harry. "But it's only nine o' clock."

"You start school next week," Rachel explained. "You need to develop a healthy sleep routine so you won't get tired during school."

"Alright."

Harry was ready for bed in fifteen minutes. He only had to wait another fifteen minutes before Sirius came in. He was carrying a box that seemed to be rattling.

Sirius sat on the bed and set the rattling box on the floor. Harry eyed it for a while, and then looked back up at Sirius, waiting for his story.

"You wanted to know why the earth is round," said Sirius. "A long time ago, the time of our ancestors, there was a curious boy, his named was Ry Black. He wanted to know why the earth was not round, but flat. Everyone laughed at him. One day Ry had a bunch off people follow him around the world. Eventually people began to fall off the surface of the earth. Ry said to the people: 'This would not have happened if the world was round.' From then on, the earth was always round."

"Is this true?"

"No, just a made up story, by yours truly. " Sirius replied. "You wanna see what's inside the box?"

Harry nodded his head excitedly. Sirius placed the box on his lap and pulled out a white snowy owl. Harry stared at it.

"Nice, isn't it."

"It's so cute."

"She's all yours," said Sirius, holding out the owl for Harry to hold.

Harry hesitated before grabbing the owl. The owl hooted softly as Harry stroked her head.

"Wow," Harry said quietly, "For me," he looked up at Sirius. "Thanks."

"No problem, pal." Sirius said standing up. "Good night."

Sirius turned off the light and left, closing the door behind him.

A full week had gone by with only one eventful thing happening. Harry setting Fudge's pants on fire accidentally, or so he said.

Harry had decided to name his owl Hedwig, Rachel had bought all of Harry's clothes and school supplies, and Sirius had not talked to Rachel. He decided to grab the opportunity while Rachel attempted to make Harry's hair lay straight.

"You're fighting a losing battle." Sirius said from the doorway."

"I guess you're right," said Rachel in a defeated voice. "He still looks nice though."

Harry was wearing a pair of name brand jeans and a brand name pair of shoes and shirt. In fact, everything he was wearing had just come out.

"Harry, why don't you go feed Hedwig and let her outside."

"Okay," he said, and he left out of the room.

"Rachel, I need to talk to you."

"I know. The coconut oil was too much."

"No. . .what?" Sirius looked down at the floor and saw a lot of hair products that he had seen Rachel use in her own hair. He decided to worry about that later. He had more important thing to talk about. "I tried to talk to you about this earlier, but I couldn't bring myself to talk."

"What's wrong?"

"I guess this problem started when Harry was one. There's this man, who used to be one of my best friends, and I blamed him for James and Lily's deaths, when it was really my other friend Peter." Sirius paused. "I need to apologize. I need my friend back. Harry needs his uncle."

Rachel didn't respond immediately. She started to pack up her hair products, careful not to look at Sirius's eyes.

"What does that have to do with me helping you?"

"I need to find him," Sirius said quietly. "I need about a week, but I'd need to have the week out, and I would need someone to look after Harry. That's where you come in."

"Alright," she said, remembering how he welcomed her into his home. "What do I tell Harry?"

Before Sirius could answer, Harry came into the living room wearing his jacket and holding his book bag in his hand.

"Is it time to go?"

Sirius looked at his watch. It was five fifty. "Yeah, we'll leave from the daycare at eight thirty."

"And I'm going to be doing harder math and reading and that thing when you write the word in the right way." Harry was telling Ginny during breakfast.

"Wow," she said. "I can't wait to go to big school too."

"Harry can you come here for a minute?" Sirius called from inside the kitchen.

Harry went into the kitchen, where Sirius was eating a bowl of cereal. Sirius looked towards the door.

"Is it time to go to school?"

"Almost," he answered. "I need to talk to you about something. I won't be around this week, so Rachel's going to look after you."

"Where're you going?" Harry asked curiously.

Sirius chose not to answer that question, but instead he continued to eat his cereal.

"Okay," Harry said slowly. "I'm going to show Ginny all of my new school supplies."

And he hurried off. Sirius pretended that he didn't hear that. He had to eventually talk to Harry about girls. James had his first girlfriend when he was only five years old, and Harry didn't need one at such a young age.

Yay. I updated. I just saw the teaser trailer to the OOP and it is awesome. I can't wait for the movie to come out. I hope you all have a great thanksgiving. And don't eat too much. If you want to talk about my fanfic, Harry Potter in general, or if you just feel like talking, visit my forum. You can find it on my profile page.


	19. Rules

Chapter 19 

Rules

Harry arrived at Fuzzy at a quarter to nine. The playground was full of different kids. Tall kids, short kids, skinny kids, and fat kids. There were even funny looking kids that looked like simple objects.

Sirius walked Harry inside of the school. Harry saw a long corridor with a number of closed doors. Grown ups kept walking back, a few of them stopping, looking at Harry and taking in his scar. Harry started to feel nervous and hid behind Sirius.

Sirius led the way to a office where there stood the biggest desk that Harry ever saw. It was about the same height as Harry and stretched across the office. It was a shiny wooden color and filled with metal trays and people.

Behind the desk, were smaller desk, where people were working on computers and talking on phones. One of the staff, which was working on the computer, looked up.

She had long dark hair and heavily lidded eyes. She was very good looking too. Kind of like-

"Sirius," she said coldly.

Harry looked from the woman to Sirius and back to the woman again. How they knew each other, Harry didn't know.

"Bellatrix," Sirius said with equal coldness. "The hell you doing here?"

"I, unlike you, finished college. So I, unlike you, could get a decent job."

Sirius let out a snarled and was about to retort when a office nearby opened.

"Sirius," said Lorraine, coming out of her office. "How are you?"

Today she was wearing a short blue jean skirt and a white blouse. Her hair was braided with small micro-braids and she was wearing large, silver-hoop earrings.

"I'm fine." he answered, not taking his eyes off Bellatrix.

"I see that you've met my assistant principal, Bellatrix.," she said, beaming at Bellatrix. "Do you know her?"

"Of course he does," Bellatrix answered. "He's my dear old cousin."

"That's nice. I have a meeting to attend," she said to Bellatrix. She then turned to Sirius. "Any business you have with me, you can go through with my assistant."

She left the office. Sirius looked back at Bellatrix, who had a nasty smile on her face.

"How can I help you, Mr. Black?"

"You can help me by ridding the world of yourself. But, for now, I need information about Harry's new classroom."

Bellatrix looked at Harry, just noticing him for the first time. She looked at him with a hungry expression on her face, as if she wanted to attack him.

Sirius felt Harry stir behind him and he stood in front of Harry.

Bellatrix looked back at her computer and began to type. "He is in room 105 in Mrs. Lasko."

"Thank you."

Sirius walked Harry to room 105, where they said good-bye.

"If you need anything. . .just stay away from Bellatrix."

Harry gave Sirius a hug and went inside of the classroom. He saw about twenty student desk and one teacher desk in the room. The desks were placed in groups of four. He went to go sit down in the back of the room.

Five minutes later, the class came in followed by a thin woman wearing a tight light blue dress. She looked about Sirius's age and had oddly colorful eyes.

"Sit where ever you want." she said in a cheerful voice, that also sounded very colorful.

His two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and a very fat boy that Harry didn't know shared Harry's table.

"Okay," said Mrs. Lasko. "I'll take attendance. When I call your name raise your hand and say 'here.' Ronald Weasley?"

"Here."

" Hermione Granger?"

"Here."

"Harry Potter?"

"Here."

"Draco Malfoy?"

"Here."

"Vincent Crabbe?"

"Here."

"Gregory Goyle?"

"Here."

"Pansy Parkinson?"

"Here."

"Lavender Brown?"

"Here."

"Pavarti and Padma Patil?"

"Here."

"Seamus Finnigan?"

"Here."

"Neville Longbottom?"

"Here."

"Dean Thomas?"

"Here."

"Hannah Abott?"

"Here."

"Terry Boot?"

"Here."

"Susan Bones?"

"Here."

"Justin Finch-Fletchley?"

"Here."

"Ernie Macmillian?"

"Here."

"Joe Smith?"

"Here."

"Jimmy Blue?"

"Here." the fat boy answered.

Mrs. Lasko closed her attendance book and looked at her class.

"Now that I know who you are," she said. "it's time for you to know me." She turned to face the board and began to write. "My name is Mrs. Lasko." she said, writing as she spoke. "I'm going to be your first grade teacher. I hope we have a lot of fun this year."

She sat back down at her desk and sat silently, waiting for her students to talk or start making conversation. But they sat there with their hands folded on top of their desks.

"Alright let's go over the rules." she said when no one made an attempt to open his or her mouths. "Now, what should rule number one be?"

The class gave her a confused look. For the first time a hand raised into the air.

"Yes, Hermione?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. "Shouldn't you make the rules?"

Harry thought that Mrs. Lasko was going to shout at Hermione for questioning her, but she merely smiled.

"You're quite right," she replied. "But it's only fair that we make rules we all agree on. That way it is fair. How many people are in this classroom?" she asked, when they gave her another confused look.

"Twenty-one." answered Hermione.

"Yes," Mrs. Lasko replied. "In this class there are twenty-one teachers and twenty-one students. We all learn from each other, we all teach each other."

Another hand raised into the air.

"Yes, Pavarti?"

"No fighting." Pavarti said quietly.

"Yes, a very good rule. As we are all in the same class, we must not fight with each other, but work together."

Then she stood up and wrote on to the board;

_1. No Fighting._

_2. Work Together_

"Anyone else?"

Inspired by Pavarti's rule, several more people raised their hands. Pretty soon the board had ten rules.

_3. Respect each other and other's property._

_4. No swearing._

_5. Share._

_6. Be nice._

_7. Treat people the way you want to be treated._

_8. No stealing._

_9. Keep the classroom clean._

_10. Mind your manners_

For the rest of the day, Mrs. Lasko had the class decorate the classroom according to their taste. Harry was reminded of all the arts and crafts he had done at daycare and couldn't wait to tell Rachel all about his first day of school.


	20. This is Moony

Chapter 20 

This is Moony

Harry started to enjoy school and learn new things. He learned how to spell, write, read, do math, and even learned about the history of his town. Hermione had already recommended a book for him to read; _Fuzzy Town, a history_.

Harry couldn't wait for Sirius to come home from wherever he was so that he could tell him all about his first week at school. It was Saturday and Harry hadn't heard from Sirius since he dropped him off at school.

He wanted to tell Sirius about his new teacher, his first A in class, what he did during recess, what he was learning, and how scared he was of Bellatrix; but Sirius wasn't around and had not contacted him or Rachel.

Harry was sitting on the couch watching Saturday morning cartoons, when the telephone rang. Harry was emerged in his cartoons, so he ignored it.

Five minutes later, Rachel came into the living room and sat down next to Harry. She looked at the TV and saw that Harry was watching one of his favorite shows; Pokemon.

"That was Sirius," she said. Harry looked at her. "He's on his way home. He said that he was bringing a friend over."

Harry jumped off the couch and began dancing around. He was very happy that Sirius was coming home. It was like his birthday and Christmas wrapped into one.

Rachel turned off the TV. "Sirius has been gone a long time. You should make him a card or something."

"Okay. I want the card to be extra special."

"I'll go get your art supplies, you cover the floor and newspaper."

Harry worked long and hard on his card. Harry was very artistic and creative, so the card was beautiful. By night, it was finished.

Harry was sitting on the floor in the dark kitchen, waiting for Sirius to come home. Sirius car was gone, so that meant he was going to come through the kitchen.

Rachel came into the kitchen and turned the light on. She wasn't surprised that Harry was in there.

"Okay, Harry," she said. "It's late and way pass your bedtime."

"But Sirius hasn't come home yet," he said, not taking his eyes off of the door. "Just another hour."

"I'm sorry Harry, but you need your sleep. Now off to bed."

"Okay." Harry said sadly.

Harry dragged his feet into his bedroom. He felt his heart sink all the way to the bottom of his feet; he felt a lump and his throat making it hard for him to swallow.

He collapsed onto his bed and began to cry. Ten minutes later he fell asleep.

That night he had nightmares after nightmares after nightmares. The nightmares continued until he got up that early morning. It was so early, that the sun was barely up, but you could see light outside.

He left out of his room to get a drink of water, when he heard voices. Two of them sounded familiar, one of them he didn't recognize at all.

Harry walked into the living room, where he saw Rachel sitting on the couch with a man he didn't know. Sirius was sitting in one of the windows.

The man looked up. "Hello, Harry."

Rachel and Sirius looked at Harry, who backed out of the living room. There was a strange man in there. Who was he? How did he know his name?

"It's alright, Har," said Sirius's voice. "Come here and say 'hi'."

Harry cautiously walked into the living room and stood by Sirius. He watched the man carefully and didn't take his eyes off him.

"Harry this is Remus Lupin." Sirius said. "He's your Uncle Moony."


	21. One More For the House

Chapter 21 

One More For The House

Harry continued to stare at the man. The man who Sirius said was his uncle. How could he have an uncle? Even if this man was his uncle, why was he just now meeting him? There was something about this man that he didn't like. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"How old are you, Harry?" asked Lupin.

Harry didn't answer. He was still overcome with shock. This was not his uncle. The man looked like a bum that he had seen on the street, begging for money and smelling like hot grits and armpits. This man, however, smelled nice.

"Go on Harry," Sirius urged. "Tell him."

Harry still didn't answer. He just merely held up six fingers.

"Six already?" Lupin replied. "I haven't seen you since you were one."

So this man knew him. If that was the case, where have he been? Why was Sirius left alone with Sirius, who had to raise Harry by himself, before he met Rachel? Sirius needed a friend and this guy just up and disappeared. He was no uncle to Harry.

"Why don't you go back to bed?" suggested Rachel. "I'll tuck you in."

"Good night, Harry," said Lupin, as Rachel walked Harry towards his room. He waited until they were out of earshot before talking to Sirius in a low voice. "He hates me."

"No, he doesn't. He's just been through a lot."

"You don't think he knows about me believing you to be a traitor?"

"Nah," answered Sirius. "I didn't tell him."

"What?" he said rather angrily. "You didn't tell him anything about me?"

Sirius frowned at his friend. "Well. . .no. Listen, I wanted to tell Harry, but I thought you were still mad at me about James and Lily. Is that why you didn't contact me?"

"Speaking of contacting," said Lupin in the same angry tone. "You could have at least told me that you had switch secret keepers."

"Remus, I. . ."

"I've been watching over you all these years and this is how you treat me?"

"I. . .you. . .what. . .?"

"I've been watching over you and Harry. How do you think I got to your house the night you hired Greyback as a babysitter? How do you think I knew to come to your rescue when Death Eaters surrounded you? Because I've been watching."

"But. . .why?"

"After James and Lily died, I went into shock." When he spoke, it was in a calm voice. "It was like my whole world collapsed around me. I lost my best friends. I couldn't eat. Couldn't sleep. Couldn't even go to work. I got fired from my job and eventually kicked out of my apartment." Then his voice grew cold. "Then that bitch Umbridge made it had for me to get a job and I had to live on the streets. Surviving on what I could manage to find. Did you have to worry about that? No. You have a job. You have a place to live. You have Harry."

"It hasn't all been easy. Fudge has. . ."

"I'm really tired, Sirius," interrupted Lupin. "We can talk about this later."

Lupin lay on the couch, and turned away from Sirius. Sirius could tell that Lupin was hurt, and that's not how he wanted him to feel.

Sirius walked over to Lupin and knelt down so that they were on the same level.

"You can live here," he said in a whisper. "I'm really sorry. None of this would have happened if I were honest with my own feelings. We could live as a family. I'll talk to Harry. I promise."

Sirius waited for Lupin to respond. But he didn't. Sirius got up, stared at Lupin, and then made his way to his room. He was almost inside when Lupin spoke.

"Thanks, Sirius," he said softly. "I'm sorry too. Let's just put the past behind us and live in the present. . .for Harry's future."

Sirius smiled and nodded.

He went inside his room thinking that his life was getting better. He had Harry, a girlfriend, a job, and his best friend back.

Lupin was right. He couldn't keep living in the past and bottling up his emotions. He needed his friends and family to live for the future. Harry's future.


	22. Mail

Part 6 

Chapter 22

Mail

It took Harry awhile to get used to Lupin living with them, and even longer for Harry to trust him. In fact it was the summer of his eighth birthday that they had become friends. They had become so close that Harry trusted Lupin without blinking an eye.

It was a hot summer day. Rachel sat out the grill for a barbeque while Harry, Ron, and Hermione played downstairs in the parking lot.

They had to play in the basement area because Rachel didn't want them to get hit by a car and Sirius said it was more than they lives if they climbed onto his car. . .again.

After playing for three hours, nonstop, they went to go get some ice cream from the kitchen.

They were sitting at the table eating Chocolate ice cream when Lupin came and sat the mail on the table.

Mail time was one of Harry's favorite times of the day. He didn't get any mail, but he loved to open all the mail that Sirius would normally throw away: junk mail.

Harry automatically picked up the mail and sorted through it. He sorted through bills, bills, bills, a funny letter from a person named Peter Pettigrew, a brochure to a summer camp, bills. . .a brochure to a summer camp?

Harry put the rest of the mail neatly on the table and opened the brochure. It had pictures of people racing in funny shaped boats, people sitting around the campfire, people doing arts and crafts, people hiking, and other fun activities.

"What's that?" Ron asked, looking up from his ice cream to the letter.

"I dunno," answered Harry. "Look's like a brochure to a summer camp."

"A summer camp?" repeated Hermione. "Read it."

Harry opened the brochure up and read:

Fuzzy Camp 

Are your children sitting at home with nothing to do? Are they getting in the way of your cleaning? Do you want your child to have a camping experience?

If so, enroll your child into Fuzzy Camp. Fuzzy camp is just the thing needed for a growing child.

They will learn how to canoe, do arts and crafts, learn about nature, and other fun activities.

Fuzzy camp is enrolling children from the ages 6-12.

Transportation and refreshments will be provided. It's absolutely free.

Sign up today!

"Wow," said Ron. "This Fuzzy camp sounds awesome."

"Have you guys ever been camping?" Harry asked, still looking at the brochure.

"Yeah," answered Ron. "My uncle Bilius took us camping two years ago. It was awesome, but it was nothing like that brochure. What about you, Hermione?"

"No, but I've read about it in books. It sounds really interesting."

"Interesting? It's not supposed to be interesting. It's supposed to be fun."

At that point, Sirius had walked into the kitchen. He was carrying a bucket of soapy water and a torn rag.

He walked over to the table and picked up the mail. He began to rummage through it until he stopped at a letter in a parchment color envelope.

"What's wrong?" asked Harry.

Sirius was looking at the letter with a dark expression on his face mingled with the look of disgust.

"Remus," called Sirius. "Come look at this."

Lupin came from out of his room, which was smoking, causing the kids at the table to cough.

"Mr. Lupin," choked Ron. "Why is your room on fire?"

"It's not on fire," Lupin said patiently. "I was just trying to make a Wolfsbane potion. Not coming along very well." he then turned to Sirius. "What?"

In answer to the question, Sirius held up the envelope. Lupin glanced at it and frowned.

"You think I should open it?" he asked, ignoring the quizzical look from Harry.

Lupin hesitated.

"Why would he write to you? He hasn't contacted us in seven years."

Sirius carefully slit the envelope open and extracted the letter. He read it through quickly then shoved the letter in Lupin's hands, who also read it.

"This is some bull," he said balling up the letter and throwing it in the garbage. "Who does he think he's fooling?"

"My thoughts exactly. You can't apologize for doing something like that. He can be sorry all he wants to."

"Well," he said slowly. "Maybe he is sorry about killing James and Lily and he really has changed."

Harry watched the conversation closely at the mention of his parents' names.

"He just wants to make up to us," Sirius said coldly. "He wants to be our friends again so that he can get closer to. . ."

"Sirius," Lupin said warningly.

Sirius looked round and noticed that Harry, Ron, and Hermione was watching the conversation with interest.

Without another word, Sirius picked up his bucket, and left the room. After a few seconds, Lupin went back in his room and closed the door.

"What was that about?" Ron asked the other two.

"I don't know," answered Harry. "but I'm going to find out."

Harry stood up and headed to the garbage can, in which Lupin had thrown the letter. He began rummaging around it.

"I don't think you should," said Hermione.

"Why not?"

"Because it's not any of your business. It has nothing to do with you."

"But Uncle Lupin mentioned my mom and dad. They have something to do with me."

"That may be so, but. . ."

"Found it!"

Harry opened the letter and began to read:

Dear Sirius, and Remus if you're there,

I just wanted to apologize for everything I've done. I've been lonely these past seven years and I miss your company. I had seven years to think about my actions and I hope we can still be friends.

I know you're mad at me, but I never meant to kill James and Lily. I didn't understand what I was doing. I'm really sorry.

So, how's Harry. How big has he grown? Did you mention that I was his second uncle? I bet he's popular with all the girls. He's so handsome, like his father.

Hope to see you soon,

Peter Pettigrew

Harry's throat suddenly became tight and the brim of his eyes began to burn.

This man, who helped murder Harry's parents, had the nerve enough to contact Harry, after he had killed his parents.

"Harry?"

"Harry, what's. . ."

Before Ron finished his question, Harry ran into his room and slammed the door. They heard the door lock and knew that whatever was in that letter had something to do with him.

Sorry it took so long to update. Been busy. Anyway, happy holidays!


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